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Jfam0ttg Signing 
of tfte »0rtB 

THEIR ORIGIN AND THEIR 
ROMANCE 

BY . 

ALLAN SUTHERLAND 

WITH 'AN INTRODUCTION BY 

The Rev. HENRY C. McCOOK, D.D., LL.D., Sc.D. 



XUttstratrtr 



NEW YORK 
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 21 1906 

Copyright Entry 

cures CC XXc, No. 
/ <T6~7 XI 

COPY B. 






Copyright, 1905 
By The Butterick Publishing Co., Ltd. 

Copyright, 1906 
By Frederick A. Stokes Company 

This edition published in October, 1906 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A, 



TO 

THE MEMORY 

OF THOSE WHO HAVE LEFT TO US THE PRICELESS 

LEGACY OF THESE IMMORTAL 

HYMNS 

AND TO ALL THOSE TO WHOM THESE HYMNS 
ARE DEAR 

THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
BY THE AUTHOR 



Blessed be God for these hymns of penitence and faith and love ! 
They renew within us the fervor of the days when at the Gross we 
first saw the light, and the burdens of our hearts rolled away ; and 
they bring us as penitents anew to the pierced feet of Him Who died 
to wash away our sins. — Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins, S.T.D. 

Hymns are the exponent of the innermost piety of the Church. 
They are the jewels which the Church has worn, the pearls, the dia- 
monds, the precious stones formed into amulets more potent against 
sorrow and sadness than the most famous charm of the wizard or 
magician. And he who knows the way that hymns flowed, knows 
where the blood of true piety ran, and can trace its veins and arteries 
to the very heart. — Hknby Wabo Beeches. 



FOREWORD 




URING the year 1905 a 
series of articles on twelve 
of our most popular 
hymns appeared in The 
Delineator and attracted 
far-reaching attention. In accordance 
with a very generally expressed desire, 
they are now presented in an enlarged 
and more permanent form. 

In the course of preparing these arti- 
cles for publication, the author wrote to 
a number of prominent persons, minis- 
ters for the most part, submitting a list 
of hymns, which had been carefully 
selected, and asking them for incidents 
or for any personal experiences which 
they themselves or their friends had had 
in connection with these favourite "songs 



FOREWORD 

of the heart," the desire being to intro- 
duce as much original and helpful matter 
as possible. 

The interest manifested in the re- 
sponses was very gratifying and encour- 
aging ; but while many kindly sent 
contributions, by far the larger number 
replied, in substance : " I regret to state 
that I have had no personal experiences 
in connection with these hymns." 

A distinguished minister doubtless 
gives the true explanation. He writes: 
" I can heartily sympathise with you in 
your efforts to secure fresh and original 
matter. The fact is, our ministers, as 
a rule, usually sing the hymns so per- 
functorily, and so utterly thoughtless of 
practical results, that there are really 
few known incidents occurring outside 
of the special meetings held by evan- 
gelists in which songs play so prominent 
and valuable a part." 

The incidents are given as they were 
received, although, as with those relative 



FOREWORD 

to •* Jesus, Lover of my Soul," there is, 
at times, lack of agreement. Apart from 
these incidents, for which, of course, the 
author cannot claim responsibility, a 
painstaking effort has been made at 
accuracy of statement. For the most 
part, the incidents are new, the usual 
stock stories which appear in books of a 
similar character having been, to a large 
extent, excluded. 

Each article has its own peculiar in- 
terest. In some cases it seemed best to 
make much of the life of the composer 
of the hymn ; in others, the hymn it- 
self and its incidents received the most 
attention. 

The matter given contains material 
enough for a sermon on each hymn ; 
and the hope is expressed that the read- 
ing of this volume will suggest to many 
ministers a series of sermons on this 
most interesting subject. 

In preparing the articles which ap- 
peared in The Delineator for this more 

vii 



FOREWORD 

durable form, much valuable matter has 
been inserted, and several popular hymns 
have been added. 

The author is indebted to all those 
who have contributed to these pages ; 
to Mr. Charles M. Alexander, Mr. W. 
H. Doane, and Mr. E. O. Excell for 
copyright privileges ; to Dr. McCook 
for his excellent Introductory, and to 
Mr. Harry Pringle Ford for valuable 
literary assistance, — to all of whom he 
publicly returns his grateful thanks. 

This volume goes forth on its mission 
of love and service with the hope that 
it may develop a greater affection for 
and interest in our familiar hymns and 
their authors; and, above all, it goes 
with the earnest prayer that it may be 
instrumental in leading immortal souls 
to a saving knowledge of the Master. 

ALLAN SUTHERLAND. 

Philadelphia, Pa., 1906. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introductory xiii 

I Jesus, Lover of my Soul ... 1 

II Abide with Me 27 

III Just as I Am 47 

IV My Faith looks up to Thee . . 71 
V Sun of my Soul 95 

VI Lead, Kindly Light . . . • 115 

VII Rock of Ages 133 

VIII A Mighty Fortress is our God 155 

IX Nearer, my God, to Thee . . 179 

X Onward, Christian Soldiers . . 203 
XI Come, Thou Fount of Every 

Blessing 225 

XII Stand up, Stand up for Jesus . 245 
ix 



CONTENTS 

XIII There is a Fountain filled 

with Blood 267 

XIV From Greenland's Icy Moun- 

tains ... 297 

XV Safe in the Arms of Jesus . 319 

XVI My Country, 'tis of Thee . . 339 

XVII The Glory Song 367 

XVIII Sunset and Evening Star . . 391 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

"'Yes,' said the dying soldier, 'please sing to 

me "Jesus, Lover of My Soul " tn Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The Rev. Henry C. McCook, D.D., LL.D., 

Sc.D xiii 

"The great hymn, c Abide with Me/ doubt- 
less conceived in the walk by the sea" 38 

"Come to Him just as you are" .... 54 

"With a deep consciousness of his own needs, 
he transferred to paper, as faithfully as 
he could, what was passing within him" 90 

"And in quiet country places, we turn in- 
stinctively to the one hymn that fits 
into our mood and need" . . . . 112 

John Henry Newman, author of "Lead, 

Kindly Light" 118 

" Then it was that I wrote the lines, c Lead, 

Kindly Light ' " 122 

"In like manner, Toplady, exultant in his 
view, wrote * Rock of Ages ' before he 
sought rest" 142 

" Luther would say to Melancthon : ' Come, 

Philip, let us sing the 46th Psalm ' " . 164 
xi 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

" Or if on joyful wing cleaving the sky, sun, 

moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly " . 180 

"Sang most heartily 'Onward, Christian 
Soldiers/ to cheer the Christian Japan- 
ese in the ranks " 220 

u Came to him now with a new and a power- 
ful personal appeal " 242 

te Now, father, I am ready. Tell them, ' Let 

us all stand up for Jesus ' " .... 258 

William Cowper, author of " There Is a Foun- 
tain Filled with Blood " ..... 270 

"He retired for that purpose to a distant 

part of the room" 304? 

" Fanny, I have just forty minutes ; during 

that time you must write me a hymn " 332 

The Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, D.D., 

author of « My Country, Tis of Thee " 342 

" < I've got a song that is going to live ! ' " . 372 
Charles M. Alexander 374 

Lord Tennyson, author of "Sunset and 

Evening Star" 394 

" My eye caught in the cloudless atmosphere 
the gleam of a star, resplendent in its 
beauty" 406 



XII 




Photo by Gutekunst, Philadelphia, 

THE REV'D HENRY C. McCOOK, D.D., LL.D., Sc.D. 




INTRODUCTORY 

BY THE 

REV. HENRY C. McCOOK, D.D.,LL.D., Sc.D.* 

ROM the earliest eras of 
history, religion has been 
wedded to song. In every 
stage of civilisation and in 
well-nigh every form of 
worship this has been true. From the 
rude ululations of savage medicine-men, 
with the monotonous beat of tum-tums, 
to the splendid Levitical choir of the 
Hebrew temple that rendered the psalms 
to the accompaniment of stringed and 

* President of the Presbyterian Historical Society ; Chaplain of the 
Forty-first Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, 1861-62 ; Chaplain of the Sec- 
ond Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, during the Spanish-American 
War ; Founder of the National Relief Commission, in Spanish- American 
War ; Author of " The Latimers : A Scotch-Irish Historic Romance of 
the Western Insurrection," "Women Friends of Jesus," "The Last 
Days of Jesus," " The Gospel of Nature," " Tenants of an Old Farm," 
"American Spiders and their Spinning-work," "Old Farm Fairies," 
"The Agricultural Ant of Texas," "The Honey and Occident Ants," 
and "Martial Graves of our Fallen Heroes in Santiago de Cuba: A 
Record of the Spanish- American War." 



INTRODUCTORY 

brazen instruments, the record does not 
vary. 

How rhythm and melody react upon 
the religious sentiment, and why religious 
experience naturally flows in rhythmic 
utterance, one need not here inquire. 
Such inquiries belong to the natural his- 
tory of sacred psalmody. But there are 
our sacred books to attest the facts. A 
large part of them are poems. The 
poets of ancient Israel were true prophets. 
The core of the Hebrew religion and 
worship lay within its religious songs ; 
and these are the portions of its ritual 
that have lived ; and one may safely 
predict that they shall run the whole 
cycle of being with our race. 

As far back as the days of Moses, we 
read of Miriam under a prophetic im- 
pulse breaking forth into song to com- 
memorate the deliverance of Israel from 
the Egyptians on the peninsular shore of 



INTRODUCTORY 

the Red Sea. A refrain of that hymn 
has come down to us : 

" Sing unto the Lord for He hath triumphed gloriously ; 
The horse and his rider He hath whelmed within the 
sea." 

That such religious songs were not 
rare and that their musical utterance 
was even then organized as a part of 
worship, appears from the fact that 
Miriam's countrywomen accompanied 
her with their guitars, and joined in the 
chorus. 

The Songs of Deborah illumined the 
period of the Judges. They have been 
given a place by competent critics 
among the noblest lyrics of antiquity. 
One of these, Heinrich Ewald, speaks 
of them as so artistic, with all their an- 
tique simplicity, that they show to what 
"refined art poetry early aspired, and 
what a delicate perception of beauty 
breathed already beneath its stiff and 
cumbrous soul." 



INTRODUCTORY 

The Gospel era dawned in the midst 
of holy songs, hymned by angels, by 
holy men and women, and by the Mother 
of our Lord. From that day on the 
Church of Jesus has been vocal with 
psalmody. The primitive Church had 
her spiritual songs. The saintliness of 
the early Christian ages survives in the 
Greek and Latin hymns, and the pleas- 
ant task of translating and assembling 
the choicest of these has occupied many 
gifted minds. 

The Protestant Reformation of the 
sixteenth century was borne forward on 
waves of sacred song. The sweet voice 
of the student lad that appealed from 
the snowy street to the heart of Dame 
Ursula Cotta, and opened her doors to 
Martin Luther, was a type of the new 
time. The new songs of the Reforma- 
tion and the old psalms renewed in the 
vernacular and in popular musical forms, 



INTRODUCTORY 

prepared the way of multitudes for the 
revived truths of the Gospel. 

Luther's musical taste and talent im- 
pressed itself upon Germany, and thence 
upon Europe. His free spirit found 
utterance outside of the Biblical forms 
of praise in metrical renderings of his 
own and other religious experiences. 
Calvin saw the value and authority of 
popular praises, and encouraged and pro- 
cured their use in the new organisation 
of reformed worship of which he was 
the chief agent. But his more conserv- 
ative spirit in such matters held to the 
ancient psalms ; and this influenced 
all Europe outside of Germany. The 
Church of England used the version of 
Sternhold and Hopkins, and these will 
be found appended to the early prayer- 
books. Rous's version was substantially 
that best liked and approved by the 
Church of Scotland. 

xvii 



INTRODUCTORY 

The historic "Huguenot Psalter" was 
the joint work of Clement Marot and 
Theodore Beza, the former having ren- 
dered into French metre the first fifty 
psalms, and the latter the remaining one 
hundred. These, set to popular music, 
caught the ear and heart of the people 
of all ranks. They ran rapidly through- 
out French-speaking nations, and be- 
came as well known as the "Gospel 
Hymns " in the palmy days of Moody 
and Sankey. 

The Hebrew Psalter embodies the re- 
ligious experiences of the chosen people, 
whose faith, more spiritual than that of 
any other nation of antiquity, was in- 
breathed and nurtured by the Holy 
Spirit. It is not to be supposed that 
the one hundred and fifty psalms in- 
cluded within the canonical psalter were 
the only ones that the poets of Israel 
hymned. But these, in the process of 

xviii 



INTRODUCTORY 

an inspired selection and a devotional 
development, were the ones that filled 
and satisfied the religious consciousness 
of that most spiritual people, and be- 
came the vehicle of not only a national 
but of an international praise. 

For the Book of Psalms is a book for 
all nations. The very divinity of its 
origin insures its catholic humanity. 
It has proved its high ethnic qualities 
by ages of world-wide usage. A cloud 
of witnessing praises, rising from the 
Church of every age and name through- 
out centuries of testing, testifies to its 
fitness. If the taste of this era — much 
to the regret of some of us — has largely 
rejected metrical versions in the vernac- 
ular, yet their use, after the manner of 
the ancients, in chants, still holds and 
even widens in the Church's service of 
praise. 

At all events, enough has been writ- 



INTRODUCTORY 

ten to show that the selective work of 
Mr. Allan Sutherland, in collecting some 
of the hymns that have most approved 
themselves to the religious experiences 
of Christians of recent times, is quite in 
line with the devotional spirit and acts 
of past generations. Certainly such a 
collection can make no claim to inspira- 
tion in the highest sense. But believing, 
as we all must do, that God, the Holy 
Ghost, still speaks to and through the 
spirits and lives of pious men and 
women, there is surely no small degree 
of authority and interest in those hymns 
that have voiced the spiritual life of a 
great multitude, and of which fact illus- 
trations are here presented. 

Moreover, it is most fitting that such 
hymns and psalms should be prepared 
for a truly catholic constituency. It is 
significant that the hymns which have 
fastened themselves upon the hearts of 



INTRODUCTORY 

the devout in any one branch of the 
Church are those which are loved and 
used by all who honour and love the 
name of Christ. In all ages the truly 
devout are one in spiritual sympathy, and 
therefore the forms of praise which utter 
the devotions of one heart bear alike to 
God the aspirations of another. The 
Calvinistic Toplady, Watts, and Bonar ; 
the Methodist Wesleys ; the Anglican 
Heber, Ken, and Keble ; the Romanist 
Faber and Newman, and all the goodly 
company of the sons and daughters of 
Asaph, when uttering the devotions of 
their souls, speak in one tongue. 

There is something divine in the flame 
of sacred poesy that burns out there- 
from the dross of sect. The hymns of 
the most rigid denominations are rarely 
sectarian. There is not a presbyter or 
priest in this whole land, who, with 
due tact and good faith, could not con- 



INTRODUCTORY 

duct a mission or service of song as 
chaplain of a congregation of soldiers 
or sailors made up of Protestants and 
Roman Catholics, of all phases of eccle- 
siastical opinions, without one discordant 
note and with perfect approval and en- 
joyment of all. This the writer, as a 
Government chaplain in two wars and 
for a quarter of a century in the Na- 
tional Guard, has repeatedly done and 
seen done. 

Such great catholic missions as those 
of Moody and Sankey, Whittle and 
Bliss, Torrey and Alexander, which 
have appealed to all classes, conditions, 
and creeds, and have made their services 
so largely a service of song, have been 
and remain impressive witnesses of the 
substantial unity of the devout when 
they engage in the worship of praise. 



xxii 



I 

JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 



STesus, Hober of mp soul, 

Het me to Cftp ftosom flp, 
®2Uftile tfte nearer toaters roll, 

WiW tfte tempest still is ftigft : 
J^tbe me, © mp g>abiour, fttire, 

Ctll tfte storm of life is past ; 
&afe into tfte ftaben guttie, 

© receibe mp soul at last 

©tfter refuge ftabe 3 none ; 

%angs mp ftelpless soul on Cftee ; 
Heabe, aft ! leabe me not alone, 

£s>till support anb comfort me* 
ail mp trust on QTftee ts stapeb, 

Sill mp ftelp from GCftee 3 bring ; 
Cober mp defenceless fteab 

©SJitft tfte sftaboto of Gtftp toing, 

Saiilt tEftou not regarb mp call? 

3KKilt Cftou not accept mp praper ? 
£o, 3 sink, 3 faint, 3 fall! 

Ho, on 3£ftee 3 cast mp care ; 
&eacft me out Cftp gracious ftanb ! 

GSSftile 3 of GCftp strengtft receibe, 
Roping against ftope 3 stanb, 

Bping, anb beftolb 3 libe ! 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Cftou, © Cfcrist, art all 3 toant; 

JWore tfcan all in Wbtt 3 f inb ; 
&aise tfje fallen, cfjeer tfje faint, 

Jleal ti)e sficfe, anb leab tte Minb* 
3Tust anb Jjalp is; tCfjp iSame ; 

3f am all unrighteousness ; 
;lf alse anb full of &in 35 am, 

Wbou art full of trutf) anb grace. 

plenteous grace tottfj Cfjee id founb, 

#rate to cober all mp din ; 
Het tije dealing streams abounb ; 

JWafee anb beep me pure tottfnn. 
Wifon of life tfje ^Fountain art, 

Jf reel? let me tafee of Wttt ; 
Spring Cfjou up tottfnn mp fjeart, 

3&tSe to all etemitp. 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 




ORDSWORTH, who 

himself was one of the 
world's sweetest com- 
posers of immortal verse, 
thus writes: 



u Blessing be with them, and eternal praise, 
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler 



cares 



The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs 
Of truth and pure delight by heavenly 
lays." 

In the front ranks of those who 
might hope to attain a portion of 
the blessings thus invoked upon poets 
stands Charles Wesley, who shares with 
David, the great psalmist of Israel, the 
honour of being among earth's noblest 
and most gifted writers of song. 

There is little doubt, perhaps, that 
the greatest song of all the ages — the 
one which, above all others, has brought 
peace and comfort to vast multitudes; 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

the one which, in countless instances, 
has been earliest lisped in childhood, 
and the last to linger on the tongue 
when Death's summons came — is the 
Twenty-third Psalm. For nearly three 
thousand years it has occupied a fore- 
most place in all God-loving hearts, 
and its beauty and strength have been 
recognised and acknowledged by all 
the world. 

More than a century and a half ago, 
another perfect heart-song, Charles 
Wesley's " Jesus, Lover of My Soul," 
was given to the world, and it has long 
since become recognised as one of the 
noblest expressions of Christian faith 
and hope in all literature; and while it 
can never diminish the glory of David's 
matchless verse, yet it shares with it the 
first place in the hearts of countless 
thousands; and the two together voice 
the creed, the hope, and the prayer of 
Christendom. 

Wesley wrote this hymn at the age 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

of thirty-two, when he was at the 
height of his mental powers. Several 
incidents have been narrated as having 
suggested to him its composition, two 
or three of which are here given: One 
is, that his narrow escape from death 
in a severe storm on the Atlantic in- 
spired him to portray in verse the 
thoughts and sensations of a Christian 
in deadly peril. Another, that, as he 
stood by an open window on a sum- 
mer day, a little bird, sorely pressed by 
a hawk, sought refuge in his bosom, 
and that then and there he conceived 
the idea of pointing out the soul's one 
sure place of safety in time of immi- 
nent need. 

The Rev. William Laurie, D.D., 
LL.D., states that Mrs. Mary E. 
Hoover, long a member of his church 
in Bellefonte, Pa., and whose own 
grandmother was the heroine of the 
story, informed him of the following 
family tradition: " Charles Wesley was 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WOULD 

preaching in the fields of the parish 
of Killielee, County Down, Ireland, 
when he was attacked by a number of 
men who did not approve of his doc- 
trines. He sought safety in a house 
located on what was known as the 
Island Band farm. The farmer's wife, 
Jane Lowrie Moore, told him to hide 
in the milk house down in the garden. 
Soon the mob came, demanding the 
fugitive. She sought to quiet them 
by offering to get them refreshments. 
Going down to the milk house, she 
directed Mr. Wesley to get through a 
rear window and hide under the hedge, 
by which ran a little brook. This he 
did,, and it was while here, with the 
cries of his pursuers all about him, that 
he wrote his immortal hymn. Descend- 
ants of Mrs. Moore still live in the 
house, which is much the same as it was 
in Wesley's time." 

Whatever may have been the incit- 
ing cause, it resulted in inspiring one 



JESUS, LOYEE OF MY SOUL 

of the noblest songs of modern times, 
and in making the whole world debtor 
to the author's divine gift of poesy. 
We are inclined to believe that the 
same thing might be said of Wesley 
in this connection as was said of Sid- 
ney Lanier, the gifted Southern poet. 
Some one asked a weeping old man 
who stood by Lanier's death-bed, from 
whence he drew the power to write such 
beautiful verse, and the simple and 
touching response was, " God taught 
him." Surely Charles Wesley was 
" taught of God " when he composed 
the lines which have so often come as 
a benediction to human souls in their 
night-time of sorrow. 

What volumes of incidents connected 
with this hymn might be written! Per- 
haps there is scarcely a preacher who 
has had any extended experience with 
death-bed scenes, who could not tell 
one or more interesting stories asso- 
ciated with it. Only a short time 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ago, a sainted minister, far past the 
allotted " threescore years and ten," 
and whose strong, peaceful face has 
already caught something of the glow 
of the eternal morning, said: "The 
hymn has always been inexpressibly 
dear to me; but it took on a new and 
deeper meaning when, years ago, I 
leaned over the dying form of one of 
the truest women my life has ever 
known, and heard her whisper with 
her latest breath, in broken, pleading 
tones : 

"'Hide . . me, . . O my Saviour, . . hide.' 

Few words, it is true, but enough to 
indicate in whom she trusted as her 
hold on earth weakened, and she groped 
through the shadow that veiled her dim 
eyes for a space from the glories of 
Heaven." 

The Rev. A. S. Fiske, D.D., of 
Washington, D. C, furnishes this ten- 
der incident: "A lovely young mother 
10 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

and her husband were the leaders of 
our music in the first church of which 
I was the pastor. Their baby, Mary, 
died. The mother, frail in form and 
of delicate beauty, could not recover 
from the blow, and slowly faded into 
consumption. One day I was called 
to her bedside. There I found her hus- 
band, struggling to repress his anguish, 
waiting for the end. She was serene, 
and more exquisitely beautiful than 
ever — the hectic colour flushing her 
cheeks and her great, dark eyes aglow. 
She, too, knew that the end was ap- 
proaching. I shall never forget the 
indescribable tenderness of her eyes 
and the comfort in her voice, as she 
said to her husband, ' Dearest, now 
sing " Jesus, Lover of My Soul." 
As we sang she would now and then 
attempt to join us, but her voice would 
fail, while we faltered on. When the 
hymn was ended, she murmured : ' Oh, 

how sweet!' Her eyes closed for a 
11 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

little and then they flashed wide open 
and her cheeks seemed to take on an 
added flush. A look of wonder and 
delight came into her face, and she 
raised a thin, pale hand with a caress- 
ing motion, as if gently stroking a 
dear face bent above; her lips moved; 
her husband bent to catch her words, 
and she was murmuring with all the in- 
finite eagerness of mother-love, ' Mary ! 
Baby Mary! ' Then her hand fell back 
and her eyes closed contentedly. We 
thought that she had gone to join her 
lost darling; but once more, and for 
the last time, her eyes flashed open, and 
while her face shone with ' a light that 
never was on sea or land,' she stretched 
up both hands with an adoring move- 
ment, and her husband caught the words, 
c Jesus ! Blessed, blessed Jesus ! ' The 
c Lover of her soul ' had come, according 
to His precious promise, and brought 
Baby Mary with Him to receive her 
to Himself and to bear her away to 

12 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

the blessed home in which her husband 
has long since joined his loved ones." 

" This hymn has special interest for 
me," writes the Rev. William R. Kirk- 
wood, D.D., " from the fact that the 
last intelligible utterance of my father 
was from it. He was an old man, and 
evidently near the end. I asked him 
if he found his faith hold and Jesus 
precious. Rousing his failing forces, 
he answered: 

" ' Other refuge have I none ; 

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.' 

He faltered on until he uttered the 
last words of the stanza, when his voice 
failed and he was not able to speak 
again. You will readily believe that 
the hymn is dear to me because of this, 
but you have doubtless noticed its won- 
derfully direct personality in its appeal 
to the Lord — not to an ' inanimate 
God ' who is ' the principle of our life,' 
but to a living, personal being, the 

13 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Divine Man. This runs all through it, 
and I venture to think that this is one 
of its chief charms, one of the qualities 
that make it especially dear to the heart 
in the hours of ' storm and stress.' ' 

This hymn was a special favourite 
of Dr. Lyman Beecher. His famous 
son, Henry Ward Beecher, said of it: 
" I would rather have written that 
hymn than to have the fame of all the 
kings that ever sat on the earth. It is 
more glorious; it has more power in it. 
It will go singing until the last trump 
brings forth the angel band; and then, 
I think, it will mount up on some lips 
to the very presence of God." 

" On an intensely warm day," Mr. 
H. P. Ford relates, " as I stood on the 
corner of a sun-baked street in Phila- 
delphia, waiting for a car to take me 
to the cool retreats of Fairmount Park, 
I heard a low, quavering voice singing, 
with inexpressible sweetness, * Jesus, 
Lover of My Soul.' Looking up to an 

14 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

open window whence the sound came, 
I saw on the sill a half -withered plant 
— a pathetic oasis of green in a desert 
of brick and mortar — and resting ten- 
derly and caressingly upon it was an 
emaciated hand. I could not see the 
person to whom the voice and hand 
belonged, but that was unnecessary — 
the story was all too clearly revealed: 
I knew that within that close, uncom- 
fortable room a human soul was strug- 
gling with the great problem of life 
and death, and was slowly but surely 
reaching its solution; I knew that in 
spite of her lowly surroundings her 
life was going out serenely and trium- 
phantly. I shall never quite forget the 
grave, pathetic pleading in the frail 
young voice as these words were borne 
to me on the oppressive air: 

" ' Other refuge have I none ; 

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee ; 
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, 
Still support and comfort me!'" 
15 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

This incident comes from the Rev, 
Stephen A. Hunter, Ph.D., LL.D., 
whose friend, the Rev. James Rankin, 
of the United Presbyterian Church, 
was one of the chief actors: "During 
the Civil War, the Rev. Mr. Rankin 
was serving under the Christian Com- 
mission and was often called to min- 
ister to the wounded and dying. After 
one of the battles he was bending over 
a dying soldier. He had ministered to 
the physical wants of the brave sufferer 
as best he could, and then offered a 
brief prayer commending him to a 
merciful Saviour. ' Is there anything 
more I can do for you? * said the min- 
ister, as he was about to go to the help 
of others. * Yes/ said the dying sol- 
dier, ' please sing to me " Jesus, Lover 
of My Soul." ' The minister hesitated. 
He came from a church in which hymns 
were never sung in the worship of 
God, and he had been taught to look 
askance upon them as a means of 

16 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

spiritual help; but there was no deny- 
ing this dying plea, and, besides, the 
hymn had a warm place in his heart in 
spite of his training. Softly and ten- 
derly he sang, as never before, with 
the thought that it was comforting a 
human soul in its extremity. As the 
words floated out in the darkness, 
where the dead and the wounded lay, 
a strange quiet, like that of a great 
benediction, fell upon all, and the 
dying man clasped the hand of the 
singer with a heart full of gratitude, 
while he sang on: 

" ' Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, 

Till the storm of life is past; 
Safe into the haven guide, 
O receive my soul at last. 5 

" With the closing strains there 
seemed to come a sweet peace over 
the dread battle plain. The soldier 
relaxed his grasp; the prayer was 
heard; the song had ushered him 
within the gates. 

2 17 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" And the minister went on in his 
ministry of helpfulness, with a new 
thought in his heart: If this hymn 
will do to die by, it will do to live 
by. And in after days he comforted 
many dying souls with its beautiful 
words." 

Some years ago a ship was being 
dashed to pieces on a lee shore. As 
she drew nearer in the thralldom of 
relentless breakers, and as the brief 
winter twilight faded into night, a few 
men could be dimly seen desperately 
clinging to the rigging. It was im- 
possible for a small boat to live in such 
a sea, and there was no other human 
means of rendering aid. One by one 
the sailors hopelessly gave up the 
struggle that was beyond mortal en- 
durance, and their bodies were cast 
upon the beach. It was thought that 
all had perished, when, in a momentary 
lull in the roar of the wind and the 
booming of the waters, a man's voice 

18 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

was heard, full of pleading, away off 
in the blackness, singing: 

" Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, 
Till the storm of life is past ; 
Safe into the haven guide, 
O receive my soul at last." 

The watchers heard no more. The 
brave voice was stilled forever; the 
sailor had reached " his desired haven." 
Soon tender hands drew his storm- 
tossed body from the surf, and the 
next day it was gently laid away under 
the trees in the nearby churchyard. 
On quiet Sabbath mornings, when the 
fisherfolk gather for their spiritual 
devotions, the story of the storm and 
the song is often repeated. 

The cheering words of this match- 
less hymn, wedded to deathless music, 
will continue to sound along the years, 
making the world better, faith stronger, 
and God more real, until time shall be 
no more. 

19 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

No history of the hymn would be 
complete without the story of the beau- 
tiful tune to which it is inseparably 
wedded, and this has been admirably 
told by Dr. Henry T. McEwen, of 
Amsterdam, New York: 

" By an overwhelming vote, ' Rock 
of Ages ' and ' Jesus, Lover of My 
Soul ' have been placed in the very 
front rank of hymns. Their almost 
identical experience furnishes a coin- 
cidence as interesting as it is striking. 
Both were written in Great Britain, 
contiguous in place and contempora- 
neous in time. Both waited about a 
century, and, both crossed the ocean to 
find in America the tunes with which 
they have been most blessedly and in- 
timately associated. ' Rock of Ages * 
found its appropriate musical setting 
in the tune ' Toplady,' by Dr. Thomas 
Hastings; and Charles Wesley's great 
hymn, ' Jesus, Lover of My Soul,' 
found the tune ' Martyn,' on which it 

20 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

has been borne to every land, and to 
which it is sung in every tongue. 
Myriads of Christians, toiling on in 
faith and hope, who now and then 
gladden their hearts with song, give 
this hymn and tune first place in their 
innermost affections. 

" Simeon B. Marsh was born in the 
State of New York in 1798. His 
opportunities were limited; his pas- 
sion for music unbounded. With Dr. 
Thomas Hastings, who lived but a few 
miles away, he formed a lasting friend- 
ship. Dr. Hastings was then a great 
leader in the composition and teaching 
of sacred music. 

" Early in life Mr. Marsh, during 
the winter months, taught singing 
schools in the villages and hamlets near 
his home. In his leisure hours he built 
several organs of limited size. In 1832 
he removed to Amsterdam, New York, 
where he became the leader of the choir 
of the Presbyterian Church, and during 
21 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

the autumn and winter continued to 
teach in adjacent villages. 

" One morning in the autumn of 
1834 he had started from Amsterdam 
to Johnstown on his weekly circuit of 
singing schools. The beautiful scenery, 
because familiar, had nothing new to 
attract him. While he mused, the fire 
of inspiration burned within him. At 
the foot of Tribes Hill, a few miles 
west of Amsterdam, he dismounted, 
and leaving his horse to graze nearby, 
seated himself beneath a noble elm, 
which then stood with others where 
now the four tracks of the New 
York Central Railway bear a mighty 
commerce to the sea, and jotted 
down on such paper as he chanced 
to have, the tune ' Martyn ' to the 
words : 

" ' Mary, to her Saviour's tomb, 
Hasted at the early dawn; 
Spice she brought and sweet perfume, 
But the Lord she loved was gone/ 



JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL 

" Arriving in Johnstown, he wrote 
the new tune on the blackboard for 
the children's class that afternoon. 
Our hearts are stirred with a new 
tenderness and gratitude as we re- 
member that children's voices were the 
first to sing the melody. Encouraged 
by the welcome the simple composition 
received from his singing classes, Mr. 
Marsh taught it to his choir. The Sab- 
bath dawned; the time for the church 
service arrived. What a moment it 
was! Seated at the organ which his 
own hands had built, and which they 
now played, Mr. Marsh led the choir, 
which he had trained, in singing for 
the first time, as a part of divine wor- 
ship, the tune which he himself had 
composed. The appreciation of the 
music-loving congregation was instant, 
but they little dreamed that the fame 
of the tune which they had just heard 
would be more widespread and endur- 
ing than the hills encircling their classic 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

valley, that its ministry of service would 
extend through time and eternity. 

" Some years later Dr. Hastings 
discovered that the tune was better 
adapted to ' Jesus, Lover of My Soul ' 
than to the hymn selected by Mr. 
Marsh. He sought and secured from 
his friend the privilege of making the 
change. In 1870, not long before his 
death, Dr. Hastings, in making his 
famous collection, secured from Mr. 
Marsh a facsimile of the original score, 
using, of course, the words * Jesus, 
Lover of My Soul/ and giving the 
date of composition, and adding the 
composer's autograph. 

" When Gilmore was preparing for 
the c World's Jubilee ' in Boston, in 
1872, he selected ' Martyn ' as a repre- 
sentative American tune, and invited 
Mr. Marsh to hear it rendered on that 
occasion by his famous band. Mr. 
Marsh died in 1877. 

" Sunday morning, November 11, 



JESUS, LOVEE OF MY SOUL 

1900, the Presbyterian Church at Am- 
sterdam began its centennial celebra- 
tion. After the historical sermon, and 
just before the congregation rose to 
sing the closing hymn, ' Jesus, Lover 
of My Soul,' to the tune ' Martyn,' 
the pastor told the story of its com- 
position. In the crowded house there 
were many who remembered the old 
church edifice from which the tune had 
gone forth on its matchless ministry. 
There were a few present who had 
received their first lessons in singing 
from Mr. Marsh. Tears of joy, grati- 
tude, and appreciation rolled down the 
cheeks of stalwart men as well as of 
gracious women. Led by organ and 
chorus, the congregation joined in an 
outpouring of praise such as is never 
heard save when human hearts are 
deeply stirred." 



25 



II 

ABIDE WITH ME 



&bibe toitb me : f as;t falls; ttje ebentibe ; 

£fje barkness beepens ; Horb, tottf) me abibe : 
S23})en otljer belper* fail, anb comforts; flee, 
Jfytlp of tfje fjelpless, abibe trntfj me. 

g>toift to its; closie ebbs; out life's; little bap; 
Cartb's jops; groto bim, its; glories; pas;s; atoap ; 
Cbange anb becap in all arounb 3 s;ee ; 
© Cbou tuijo cfjangest not, abibe toitb me. 

3 neeb Wyp presence eberp passing bour ; 
GKHbat but tlbp grace can foil tfje tempter'* 

potoer ? 
OTbo like QPbpgeK mp guibe anb s;tap can be ? 
Cfjrougfj cloub anb sunsfjme, (9 abibe tottfj me. 

3 fear no foe, toitb tEbee at fjanb to bless : 
311s; babe no toeigbt, anb tear* no bitterness. 
Wfytxt i* beatb'S sting? tobere, grabe, tbp 

bictorp ? 
3 trtumpb still, if Sftou abibe toitb me. 

?|olb GTbou XKfjp cross before mp closing epes; ; 
£>bine tbrougb tfje gloom, anb potnt me to tfje 

s;feie* : 
Jleaben's; morning breaks;, anb eartb's; bain 

stfjabotos; flee: 
3n life, in beatb, © Xorb, abibe toitb me. 




ABIDE WITH ME 

OT often does Shelley's 
declaration of poets, 
" They learn in suffer- 
ing what they teach in 
song," find such com- 
plete verification as in the case of 
Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) and 
his matchless composition, " Abide with 
Me." 

On the eastern coast of Devonshire, 
England, is the ancient little seaport 
town of Brixham, built on the sunny 
cliffs of Torbay, with magnificent vis- 
tas of the English Channel widening 
to the Atlantic. Of its surroundings, 
the Rev. S. W. Christophers has the 
following description: 

" One finds here, within the limits of 
a few days' ramble, the richest inter- 
minglings of balmy air and bright blue 
sea, of hill and dale, copsy knoll and 
ferny hollow, villa-crowned heights and 

31 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

cottages in dells, noble cliffs and ter- 
raced gardens, mountain paths and 
quiet sparkling beaches, weedy rocks 
and whispering caverns, ever-varying, 
ever-harmonising scenes, amid which, 
above, beneath, around, and everywhere, 
grandeur is melting into beauty." 

It was amid such scenes as these that 
"Abide with Me" was written; and 
one will not be surprised to learn that 
only a few miles away, in the town of 
Torquay, where the country and coast 
are almost identical, Charlotte Elliott 
gave to humanity another great hymn, 
" Just As I Am." 

The town of Brixham, though carry- 
ing on an extensive fishing and coast- 
ing trade, grows but little, and is much 
as it was in 1688, when William of 
Orange landed there on his first mem- 
orable visit to England. The stone on 
which he stepped is still preserved as 
a relic in an obelisk at the head of the 
quaint little pier; and it was on this 



ABIDE WITH ME 

same stone that William IV, a cen- 
tury and a half later, also stepped when 
paying a visit to Brixham, where, in 
connection with other ceremonies, he 
was met by Mr. Lyte with a surpliced 
choir. It is not, however, the visits of 
these monarchs of the realm that have 
made Brixham famous. 

It seemed a singular chance that 
placed this frail, sensitive minister over 
a parish composed largely of hardy 
fisherf oik, with here and there a sprink- 
ling of more refined and cultured peo- 
ple. There were also soldiers in the 
barracks, and visitors who came to 
enjoy the salt-water bathing. It was 
evidently a place for a great soul to 
do a noble mission, and Mr. Lyte was 
the Heaven-sent messenger who for 
twenty-five long years knew 

" Their lives, their hearts, 
Their thoughts, their feelings, and their 

dreams, 
Their joys and sorrows, and their smiles and 

tears." 

3 33 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

All the while he himself was suf- 
fering from consumption, which was 
destined at last to remove him from 
these scenes in which he so faithfully 
laboured for his beloved people. The 
time came, while he was still in the 
prime of life, when he felt that his 
work would soon be over, and with the 
deepest longings he desired that he 
might be permitted to do something 
which would have its influence for good 
upon humanity after he had gone to 
his rest. This longing found expres- 
sion in the following language: 

" Might verse of mine inspire 
One virtuous aim, one high resolve impart — 
Light in one drooping soul a hallowed fire, 
Or bind one broken heart — 

" Death would be sweeter then." 

Fortunately, the story of how this 
desire found such signal fulfilment in 
the production of "Abide with Me," 
has been preserved. Mr. Lyte was 
living at the time in his beautiful home 

34 



ABIDE WITH ME 

in the Berry Head House, a gift from 
William IV, who remembered with 
pleasure the kindly attention of Mr. 
Lyte during his visit to Brixham. In 
the autumn of 1847 his physicians in- 
formed Mr. Lyte that it would be 
necessary for him to relinquish his work 
and spend the winter in Italy. He 
wrote to a friend: 

" They tell me that the sea is in- 
jurious to me. I hope not, for I know 
of no divorce I should more deprecate 
than from the lordly ocean. From 
childhood it has been my friend and 
playmate, and never have I been weary 
of gazing on its glorious face. Be- 
sides, if I cannot live by the sea, adieu 
to poor Berry Head — adieu to the 
wild birds, and wild flowers, and all the 
objects that have made my old resi- 
dence attractive." 

To another friend he wrote: " I am 
meditating flight again to the south. 
The little familiar robin is every morn- 

35 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ing at my window, sweetly warning me 
that autumnal hours are at hand. The 
swallows are preparing for flight, and 
inviting me to accompany them; and 
yet, alas! while I talk of flying, I 
can scarcely crawl, and I ask myself 
whether I shall be able to leave Eng- 
land at all." 

When the last Sabbath of his stay in 
England (September 5, 1847) arrived, 
he determined to preach once more to 
his little flock and to celebrate with 
them the Lord's Supper. In spite of 
the protest of friends, he carried out 
his intentions, although scarcely able to 
stand in the chancel. In words of 
melting tenderness he pleaded with his 
people to live holy lives; and when he 
took his leave of them there was scarcely 
a dry eye in the church. 

The day had been well-nigh perfect, 
and in the late afternoon, recovering 
somewhat from the strain of the ser- 
vice in the church, he walked slowly 

36 



ABIDE WITH ME 

and feebly down the terraced walk to 
the water he loved so well and which 
he was about to leave forever. The 
benediction of autumn rested upon 
land and sea, and God's smile was 
over all. 

Above his head the sun had wooed 
the leaves into blushing splendour, and 
in the darkening branches of the trees 
song birds were pouring out a perfect 
melody of music. The great breast of 
Torbay, with scarcely a ripple to mar 
its surface, thrilled and glowed in the 
waning light of the slowly westering 
sun, while Berry Head promontory 
cast a giant shadow over the nearby 
waters. Sea and sky were so intimately 
blended that no horizon line indicated 
where the one began or the other ended. 
The spell of the hour was upon the 
saintly minister. What he felt, what 
he suffered, in that memorable walk 
alone beside the waters will never be 
known, but we may be sure that <c com- 

37 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ing events " had " cast their shadows 
before " and that he well knew what 
the end was to be. As the freshening 
breeze tossed the leaves about his feet 
and gently kissed his bared head, and 
as the mists came up out of the sea 
and the bright sunset colours faded into 
the sober grays of twilight, he slowly 
made his way back to the house, in 
prayerful silence, and went immedi- 
ately to his room. It was in that hour 
that the great hymn, " Abide with Me," 
doubtless conceived in the walk by the 
sea, had its birth. When he joined his 
family a little later, he bore in his hand 
the words that were destined to be an 
inspiration to thousands. His prayer 
had been answered. His last evening 
in his old home had produced that which 
will be a blessing so long as the heart 
turns to its Maker for help in times 
of need. 

The next day Mr. Lyte started for 
the Riviera, but he was not permitted 

38 




« as 



ABIDE WITH ME 

to reach it. When near Nice, France, 
the frail sufferer could no longer with- 
stand the strain of travel; and here, 
with the Maritime Alps towering above 
him, and the Mediterranean stretching 
away before him, bathed in all the 
glories of perpetual summer, the golden 
bowl was broken and the spirit of the 
gentle invalid returned unto God who 
gave it. His last words were, " Peace! 
Joy!" He died on the 20th of No- 
vember, 1847, at the age of fifty-four, 
less than three months after leaving 
England. His remains are buried be- 
neath a simple cross in the English 
cemetery in Nice, and his grave is the 
Mecca of many pilgrims. 

" Abide with Me " was the favourite 
hymn of the Christian soldier and hero, 
Charles George Gordon, better known 
as " Chinese Gordon," one of Eng- 
land's best and bravest generals, — a 
man " who could find the good in all, 
and was ever ready to help all to the 

39 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

best of his power." Doubtless this 
hymn was to him a source of comfort 
and consolation in the many hours of 
sore trial he was called upon so often 
to face. 

Incidents of how this hymn has been 
helpful might be multiplied, but a few 
must serve as illustrations. Dr. Theo- 
dore L. Cuyler writes: 

" During my active pastorate I often 
got better sermons from my people 
than I ever gave them. I recall now a 
most touching and sublime scene that I 
once witnessed in the death-chamber of 
a noble woman who had suffered for 
many months from an excruciating mal- 
ady. The end was drawing near. She 
seemed to be catching a foregleam of 
the glory that awaited her. With trem- 
ulous tones she began to recite Henry 
Lyte's matchless hymn, ' Abide with me : 
fast falls the eventide.' One line after 
another was feebly repeated, until, with 
a rapturous sweetness, she exclaimed: 

40 



ABIDE WITH ME 

" ' Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing 

eyes; 
Shine through the gloom and point me to 

the skies: 
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain 

shadows flee: 
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.' 

" As I came away from that room 
which had been as the vestibule of 
Heaven, I understood how the ' light of 
eventide ' could be only a flashing forth 
of the overwhelming glory that plays 
forever around the throne of God." 

" At the Naval Hospital at Norfolk," 
writes Chaplain C. Q. Wright, " dur- 
ing the war with Spain, when I con- 
ducted the funeral of a poor lad who 
died there, his shipmates stood round 
the coffin and joined tearfully in the 
hymn, ' Abide With Me.' " 

Mr. Charles M. Alexander, the fa- 
mous singer who accompanies the Rev. 
Dr. Reuben A. Torrey on his great 
evangelistic tours, writes thus of his 
farewell to Belfast: "When we came 

41 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

to the docks, we found a great multi- 
tude lined up across the custom house. 
... As we pulled out, we saw that the 
whole dock, which is circular and a mile 
in length, was crowded with people who 
waved their handkerchiefs and sang 
with earnest enthusiasm, 'Abide With 
Me.' " 

The Rev. William J. Hart writes: 
" Seven men were buried beneath thou- 
sands of tons of rock which fell with- 
out a moment's warning in a Cornish 
tin-mine. 

" Willing hands soon began the work 
of rescue, though all despaired of find- 
ing any one alive. Their worst fears 
were not quite realized. One man was 
discovered, and was removed uninjured, 
the rocks having formed an arch over 
him. 

" After a time the men who were at 
work, having been greatly encouraged 
by finding one man alive, called loudly 
to ascertain whether others were able 

42 



ABIDE WITH ME 

to speak. One man answered the call. 
He was an active Christian and a 
Sunday-school superintendent. 

" ' Are you alone? ' asked some one. 
' No ; Christ is with me/ was the 
answer. 

" ' Are you injured? ' ' Yes ' ; replied 
the imprisoned man, ' my legs are held 
fast by something.' 

" Then they could hear him singing 
in a feeble voice: 

" c Abide with me ! Fast falls the eventide : 
The darkness deepens ; Lord, with me abide ! 
When other helpers fail and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, O abide with me ! ' 

" They could hear no more. Two 
days later they found him with his legs 
crushed by a huge rock which rested 
upon them; but it was known from his 
life and last words that he had gone to 
be ' forever with the Lord.' 

" When he was buried his funeral 
was attended by hundreds of people. 
According to the local custom, they 

43 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

carried the casket through the streets 
with their hands, and on the way to the 
cemetery and also at the graveside his 
favourite hymns were sung. All were 
weeping as they finally sang ' Abide 
With Me/ the hymn which was last 
upon his lips; and doubtless many of 
those present felt the desire of their 
own hearts expressed, in the words: 

" ' In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.' " 

Dr. Louis F. Benson, in his " Studies 
of Familiar Hymns," makes this in- 
teresting statement: "It would seem 
strange to us if ' Abide With Me 9 were 
omitted from the hymn books. But its 
present position was not attained im- 
mediately, either in England or in this 
country. In 1855 Mr. Beecher, in his 
Plymouth Collection, put three verses 
at the service of American Congrega- 
tionalists. In 1861 Dr. Henry A. 
Boardman, of Philadelphia, in his Selec- 
tion, introduced the entire hymn to 

44 



ABIDE WITH ME 

Presbyterians, especially of his own 
congregation. But he preceded it by 
the notice: '[For reading only].' That 
notice reads curiously now. But he 
may have considered, as some still con- 
sider, the hymn too personal and in- 
tense for congregational use; or more 
likely, he knew of no tune that would 
carry the long lines. Indeed, the actual 
use of the hymn dates from the pub- 
lication, that same year, of the now 
familiar tune in Hymns Ancient and 
Modern. After one of the meetings 
of the committee which compiled that 
book, it was suddenly remembered that 
there was no tune for Hymn 27, 
' Abide With Me ' ; whereupon Dr. 
Monk, the musical editor (so he told 
a friend) sat down and composed in 
ten minutes the tune that has carried 
Hymn 27 to the ends of the earth/' 

It is interesting to know that an 
effort is being made to rebuild the 
church at Lower Brixham as a memo- 

45 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

rial to Mr. Lyte. The present build- 
ing, which is most unsightly and 
dilapidated, was erected early in the 
last century, and is utterly unsuited 
for its present uses, " the pews being 
so narrow that it is, in the greater part 
of the church, inconvenient to sit, diffi- 
cult to stand, and impossible to kneel." 



46 



Ill 

JUST AS I AM 



STust ag 3 am, tottfjout one plea 
Jgut tftat Cbp bioob teas *beb for me, 
anb tftat tEbou btb'st me come to GCbee, 
© Hamb of (gob, 3 come* 

3f ust as 3 am, anb toaiting not 
®o rib mp soul of one bark blot, 
Co Gtfjee, toftose bloob can cleanse eacf) Spot, 
© Hamb of (gob, 3 come. 

3Tu£t as; 3 am, tfjougfj tos'*eb about 
WSiiti) man? a conflict, man? a boubt, 
Jf igftttnga anb fears, tottfjin, tottfjout, 
© Hamb of (gob, 3 come* 

STusit as 3 am, poor, toretcbeb, bltnb; 
gsugfjt, rtcijes, fcealtng of tfte minb, 
§?ea, all 3 neeb, tn Cfjee to f tnb, 
© Hamb of (gob, 3 come. 

STust a* 3 am ! Gtfjou totlt recetbe, 
^ilt toelcome, parbon, cleanse, reltebe ; 
Jgecause W&y promise 3 beliebe, 
© Hamb of (gob, 3 come. 

STust as 3 am ! Cbp lobe unlmoton 
Has; broken eberp barrier boton ; 
J^oto, to be Cbtne, pea, 3Cbtne alone, 
© Eamb of (gob, 3 come* 

4 



JUST AS I AM 




EAN SWIFT writes in 
his Voyage to Brobdig- 
nag: " He gave it for 
his opinion that whoever 
could make two ears of 
corn or two blades of grass to grow 
upon a spot of ground where only one 
grew before would deserve better of 
mankind, and dp. more essential service 
to his country, than the whole race of 
politicians put together." 

Whether this be true or not of the 
vegetable and political world, no one 
will question the value of the service 
rendered to the moral and social world 
by him who implants in human hearts 
aspirations and longings that lead to 
genuine reformation of character. Such 
service is sure of a blessing here, and 
is promised a glorious reward here- 
after, for the Bible assures us that, 
" They that turn many to righteous- 

51 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ness shall shine as the stars for ever 
and ever." 

Evangelistic hymns are important 
factors in helping men to realize their 
sinful condition. It was the privilege 
of Charlotte Elliott to write " Just As 
I Am," the greatest of evangelistic 
compositions, and one which, above all 
others, has been successful in convict- 
ing men of sin and giving them a sense 
of their need of Christ. The opinion 
of Dwight L. Moody is shared by thou- 
sands: " It has done the most good to 
the greatest number, and has touched 
more lives helpfully than any other 
hymn." The Rev. David R. Breed, 
D.D., says of this composition: "The 
rhythm is perfect, the poetical elements 
genuine, and the lyrical qualities un- 
surpassed;" while a brother of Miss 
Elliott, a minister, modestly, but doubt- 
less truthfully, stated: "In the course 
of a long ministry I hope I have been 
permitted to see some fruit of my 

52 



JUST AS I AM 

labours, but I feel that far more has 
been done by this single hymn of my 
sister." 

Charlotte Elliott was born in Brigh- 
ton, England, March 18, 1789, and 
died September 22, 1871, at the age of 
eighty-two. She came of a cultured 
family and was herself highly edu- 
cated. Two of her brothers were min- 
isters. At the age of thirty-two she 
became a confirmed invalid, the result 
of a severe illness, yet she lived a half 
century longer, and saw all the com- 
panions of her youth pass to the grave* 
In the earlier stages of her invalidism 
it was her good fortune to meet the 
Rev. Dr. Caesar Malan, the gifted 
Swiss preacher, who was two years her 
senior. He was a man of striking 
appearance and of many accomplish- 
ments. He was converted in 1817, at 
the age of thirty-two, and five years 
later made a brief visit to the home 
of Miss Elliott. Dr. C. S. Robinson 

53 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

tells a very important incident of this 
visit : 

" One evening, as they sat convers- 
ing, he asked her if she thought herself 
to be an experimental Christian. Her 
health was then failing rapidly, and she 
was harassed often with pain. The 
question made her petulant for a mo- 
ment. She resented his searching ques- 
tion, and told him that religion was a 
matter which she did not wish to dis- 
cuss. Dr. Malan replied, with his 
usual sweetness of manner, that he 
would not pursue the subject if it 
displeased her, but he would pray that 
she might give her heart to Christ, 
and become a useful worker for Him. 
Several days afterward the young lady 
apologised for her abrupt treatment of 
the minister, and confessed that his 
question and his parting remark had 
troubled her. ' But I do not know how 
to find Christ,' she said; ' I want you 
to help me/ 

54 




come to him jusi as you ARE."" — Page 55. 



JUST AS I AM 

" ' Come to Him just as you are' said 
Dr. Malan. He little thought that one 
day that simple reply would be repeated 
in song by the whole Christian world." 

Just when the hymn was written 
is not known, but it first appeared 
anonymously in The Yearly Remem- 
brancer, in 1836. Dr. Robinson states: 
" Beginning thus its public history in 
the columns of an unpretending mag- 
azine, the little anonymous hymn, with 
its sweet counsel to troubled minds, 
found its way into scrap-books, then 
into religious circles and chapel assem- 
blies, and finally into the hymnals of 
the ' Church Universal/ Some time 
after its publication a philanthropic 
lady, impressed by its beauty and spir- 
itual value, had it printed on a leaflet 
and sent for circulation through the 
cities and towns of the kingdom; and, 
in connection with this, an incident at 
an English watering-place seems to 
have first revealed its authorship to the 

55 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

world. Miss Elliott, being in feeble 
health, was staying in Torquay, in 
Devonshire, under the care of an emi- 
nent physician. One day the doctor, 
an earnest, Christian man, placed one 
of those floating leaflets in his patient's 
hands, saying he felt sure she would 
like it. The surprise and pleasure were 
mutual when she recognised her own 
hymn, and he discovered that she was 
its author." 

Francis A. Jones gives another ver- 
sion of the origin of the hymn, which 
was furnished to him by a niece of the 
author: " In 1834 Miss Elliott was 
residing at Brighton, in a house long 
since pulled down, called Westfield 
Lodge. Her brother, the Rev. H. V. 
Elliott, having conceived the plan of 
erecting a college at Brighton for the 
education of the daughters of the poorer 
clergy, a bazaar was held in order to 
assist in raising the necessary money. 
All the members of Westfield Lodge 

56 



JUST AS I AM 

were busy — all except Charlotte, who 
was weak and ill. The night before 
the bazaar she lay tossing on her bed, 
consumed with the thought of her ap- 
parent uselessness. The day of the 
bazaar came, and Charlotte continued 
in deep thought long after every one 
had gone ; then came a feeling of peace 
and contentment. Taking a sheet of 
paper from the table beside her, she 
wrote, without any apparent effort, the 
verses by which her name is now held 
most dear." 

Many tender stories have been nar- 
rated in connection with the power of 
this remarkable hymn in the sick-room, 
in evangelistic services, and on the bat- 
tle plain. The Rev. Dr. Henry A. 
Nelson has contributed the two follow- 
ing incidents: 

" I was once requested to call upon 
a man who was in an advanced stage 
of pulmonary consumption. He had 
had a wild career, and now he was 

57 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

paying the penalty by giving up his 
life when it should have been at the 
flood-tide of its power. At first, he 
was indifferent to spiritual matters, but 
subsequently he became a sincere and 
anxious seeker after salvation. Calling 
on him one morning I gave him a copy 
of 'Just As I Am/ and asked him to 
give that day to its study in just the 
same way that he would study a con- 
tract or bond involving important busi- 
ness, and then to make up his mind 
whether he would assent to its declara- 
tions; if so, to write his name at the 
bottom. I promised that I would call 
again in the evening to learn his deci- 
sion. I did so, and as I stood by his 
bedside he handed to me, with a smile 
of rare winsomeness and peace, the 
paper on which the hymn was printed, 
and there, with great joy, I read his 
name. The few weeks that remained 
to him gave many beautiful and touch- 
ing evidences that on that day he had 

58 



JUST AS I AM 

found, through the study of a hymn, 
* the peace that passeth understanding/ 
" A respected merchant was a regu- 
lar attendant upon our church services, 
although not a member. At an evening 
meeting, when he was present, I made 
an affectionate plea for better and 
truer living on the part of the congre- 
gation, and then announced that we 
would sing ' Just As I Am/ I asked 
that as we sang we should consider 
carefully what each verse really meant, 
and whether we could sing it as repre- 
senting the sincere expression of our 
hearts. When we reached the last 
stanza, I said : ' Let all of us who really 
and honestly feel that this hymn ex- 
presses our own heart longings sing the 
last verse standing.' To my unspeaka- 
ble joy, the merchant arose with the 
others. He left the room at the close 
before I could speak to him. In my 
waking moments that night I feared 
that my friend had risen under the 

59 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

pressure of the thought that remaining 
seated while all about him stood would 
have made him uncomfortably conspic- 
uous, and that he might possibly feel 
that he had been improperly placed in 
a false position. I went to his home 
early the next morning, in order to 
learn from his wife, who was not at 
the meeting the night before, what he 
might have told her. I found her very 
happy, and she said : ' I was sitting 
alone when my husband entered. He 
was singing "Just As I Am," and when 
he reached my side, he said, with deep 
emotion, " That hymn brought me to 
Christ to-night." ' " 

The Rev. W. P. Miller, D.D., in a 
letter narrates the following: "One 
night, in a mission in the lowest portion 
of the city, I was pleading with a poor 
fellow whose presence for two or three 
nights in succession indicated that he 
was spiritually interested. I soon dis- 
covered that he was under deep con- 

60 



JUST AS I AM 

viction of sin, but I exhausted my 
resources in a vain effort to bring him 
to a decision, and was on the point of 
giving up in despair when the singers 
began the grand old hymn, ' Just As 
I Am.' I sat with my hand on his 
shoulder, and as they sang I just re- 
peated the words with the singers, look- 
ing him in the face and at every pause 
in the music interjecting a petition for 
his salvation. The hymn was not fin- 
ished before the light came, and he 
cried out, with a voice full of joy: 

« < rp Q Thee, whose blood can cleanse each 
spot, 
O Lamb of God, I come.' " 

" That hymn," said Bishop Charles 
P. Mcllvaine, of Ohio, who died in 
Florence, Italy, in 1873, " contains my 
religion, my theology, my hope. When 
I am gone, I wish to be remembered in 
association with it." 

When the Rev. Joseph Peat, of 
England, a faithful missionary who had 

61 



/ 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

given thirty years to the work in India, 
was dying, representatives from many 
congregations gathered about his bed- 
side to express their gratitude for his 
devotion to their spiritual interests. 
After giving loving admonitions to 
eight native ministers who had been 
trained for their work almost altogether 
by him, he quietly said, " Now repeat 
my favourite hymn, c Just As I Am/ " 
and soon after he was gone to hear the 
" Well done " of the Master. 

" I well remember a revival meeting 
in Kilmarnock forty years ago," says 
the Rev. Dr. Robert Craig, of Edin- 
burgh, Scotland, " in which there was 
deep feeling manifested. A young 
man, whom I had tried to lead to the 
knowledge of the truth, was sitting 
behind me, and when he smilingly 
handed to me his hymn-book, with his 
finger pointing to the words ' Just as 
I am, and waiting not, . . . O Lamb 
of God, I come/ I shared with him 

62 



JUST AS I AM 

the joy of his decision for Christ, with- 
out a word being spoken between us. 
He continues faithful to this day." 

Dr. Samuel W. Boardman, Presi- 
dent of Maryville College, Tennessee, 
writes: "A student of Maryville, the 
son of a prominent minister, a descend- 
ant of John Alden, of Plymouth Rock 
memory, had long been wayward. At 
length, he came under the most power- 
ful conviction of sin, and his soul found 
peace in Christ. He was a superb 
singer and had an admirably trained 
voice. Not long after his conversion, 
he stood before a large audience, and 
many were moved to tears to hear him 
sing softly, in the most heartfelt and 
touching way, ' Just As I Am.' ' 

" Just As I Am " was used fre- 
quently by a prominent singer in the 
Bowery Mission, New York. A well- 
known Bowery man, who often at- 
tended the meetings, presented the 
singer with a cane one morning, and 

63 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

said, with tears in his eyes and with 
the deepest emotion, " Keep on singing 
that hymn; I believe that it will yet 
prove my salvation." 

" Some years ago," writes the Rev. 
William N. Yates, D.D., " at the close 
of an evangelistic service, I was called 
into the inquiry room, to find several 
persons very anxious about their spirit- 
ual condition. Many pastors will un- 
derstand me when I say that two of 
these were in that condition when they 
simply needed guidance in expression. 
I took these two aside and began slowly 
and softly to sing ■ Just As I Am.' I 
saw by their faces that the hymn per- 
fectly expressed their burden and their 
desire; and when I sang the stanza, 

" ' Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, 

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; 
Because Thy promise I believe, 
O Lamb of God, I come.' 

a change came over their troubled 
spirit as great as was experienced by 

64 



JUST AS I AM 

the Sea of Galilee when the Master 
said, 'Peace, be still!' They had 
found their Saviour." 

The Rev. Dr. E. Milton Page says: 
" In my ministry of eleven years I have 
received into the church membership 
about twelve hundred people. It has 
been a rule with me to have the con- 
gregation sing ' Just As I Am ' just 
before I ask those who would accept 
Christ publicly to acknowledge Him. 
I think I am safe in saying that more 
than half of the twelve hundred took 
the decisive step under the spiritual 
influence of this hymn." 

" I have been in the ministry for 
twenty-four years," writes the Rev. 
Dr. Charles M. Boswell, " and during 
that time have seen hundreds converted, 
but the hymn which has been the most 
useful in enabling men to reach a de- 
cision has been ' Just As I Am.' I 
consider it invaluable in persuading 
men to yield to God." 

5 65 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

S. H. Hadley, Superintendent of the 
McAuley Mission, New York, where 
such blessed work has been done for the 
reformation of all classes of men, says : 

' Just As I Am ' has been sung as an 
invitation call in the old Jerry Mc- 
Auley Water Street Mission almost 
every night for years. How many 
times I have seen from twenty-five to 
forty-five outcasts make their way to 
the mercy-seat under the spiritual im- 
pulse awakened by that blessed hymn. 
How I wish I could describe the scene 
when men of^every description, cleansed 
by the blood of the Lamb, have gone 
forth to become splendid and useful 
men of God — and all because they 
were willing to come to Him ' just as 
they were.' " 

Dr. H. Clay Trumbull, in his book 
on Individual Work for Individuals, 
tells this interesting incident: 

" I was in the habit of inviting sol- 
diers to come to my tent, or other quar- 

66 



JUST AS I AM 

ters, to talk with me of personal reli- 
gion. Sometimes they seemed to gain 
a little help by such conversation. At 
other times a few words were evidently 
sufficient for their needs. One young 
soldier from an adjoining regiment 
came in anxiety as to his spiritual con- 
dition. I tried to make his duty and 
his privilege plain, but I did not seem 
to succeed. I prayed with and for him, 
but he did not find peace. He said 
that he must now return to his regi- 
ment, but he would come to see me 
again. 

" As he went out, I handed him a 
copy of a little Soldier's Hymn-book, 
which was the only reading matter I 
had for distribution. When I met him 
again, his face was bright with the 
cheerfulness of a glad hope. As I 
asked him about himself, he replied: 

" ' You tried to make it plain to me, 
Chaplain, but I did n't get any help. 
But, as I came away from your quar- 

67 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ters, I opened that little hymn-book, 
and I read: 

" ' " Just as I am, and waiting not 
To rid myself of one dark blot, 
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each 
spot, 
O Lamb of God, I come!" 5 

and then it was all clear to me." 

" During the twenty-five years I was 
a pastor," says the Rev. Wilbur F. 
Crafts, Ph.D., " I found nothing so 
effective in bringing thoughtful people 
to the act of decision as the hymn ' Just 
As I Am ' sung softly when the invi- 
tation to begin a Christian life had been 
given at the close of an earnest sermon. 
This direct and open confession seems 
to be the very thing to sweep away all 
excuses. Thousands of people have 
opened their hearts to welcome the 
Christian life during the singing of 
this soul-stirring hymn." 

Amos R. Wells relates this interest- 
ing incident: "Once John B. Gough, 

68 



JUST AS I AM 

the famous temperance lecturer, found 
himself in a pew with a man who 
seemed so repulsive that he moved to 
the farther end of the seat. The con- 
gregation began to sing ' Just As I 
Am,' and the man joined in so heartily 
Mr. Gough decided that perhaps he 
was not so disagreeable after all, and 
moved up nearer. At the end of the 
third stanza, while the organist was 
playing the interlude, the man leaned 
toward Mr. Gough and whispered, 
c Will you please give me the first line 
of the next verse? ' And when he heard 
the words, 

" ' Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind,' 

the man exclaimed, * That 's it, and I 
am blind — God help me, and I am a 
paralytic/ Then as he tried with his 
poor, twitching lips to make music of 
the glorious words, Mr. Gough thought 
that never in his life had he heard a 
Beethoven symphony with as much 

69 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

music in it as the blundering singing 
of that hymn by the poor paralytic." 

After the death of Miss Elliott, above 
a thousand letters were found among 
her papers thanking her personally for 
the great blessings which had come to 
the lives of the writers through the 
instrumentality of " Just As I Am." 



70 



IV 

MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO 
THEE 



fflp fcritf) looks? up to Wytt* 
tEfjou Hamb of Calbarp, 

£s>abiour SJibine : 
Jloto bear me tofnle 3f prap, 
tEafee all mp guilt atoap, 
© let me from tin* bap 

?Se tofjoUp QTfjiue* 

JWap Cbp rtcf) grace impart 
Stfrengtb to mp fainting beart, 

JWp ?eal inspire ; 
9s Cfjou fjast bteb for me, 
© map mp lobe to Cfjee 
iPure, toarm, anb changeless be, 

& libing fire* 

OTfjile life's barfe maje 3 treab, 
&nb griefs arounb me spreab, 

JSe Cfjou mp <@uibe; 
Ptb barfeness turn to bap, 
Wiipt sorroto'S tears atoap, 
Jlor let me eber Strap 

Jf rom Gflbee asibe, 

WBfytn enbs life's transient bream, 
W&fym beatfTS colb, sullen stream 

g>baU o'er me roll, 
PJlest ££>abiour, tfjen, in lobe, 
Jf ear anb bistrust remobe ; 
bear me safe abobe, 

& ransomeb souL 




MY FAITH LOOKS UP 
TO THEE 

HEN Dr. and Mrs. Ray 

Palmer celebrated their 
golden wedding anniver- 
sary, in 1882, one of the 
speakers, the gifted Dr. 
Richard S. Storrs, paid this tribute to 
Dr. Palmer, the author of " My Faith 
Looks Up to Thee": 

" The grandest privilege which God 
ever gives to His children upon earth, 
and which He gives to comparatively 
few, is to write a noble Christian hymn, 
to be accepted by the churches, to be 
sung by reverent and loving hearts in 
different lands and different tongues, 
and which still shall be sung as the 
future opens its brightening centuries. 
Such a hymn brings him to whom it 
is given into most intimate sympathy 
with the Master, and with the most 
devout spirits of every time." 

75 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WOELD 

Dr. Palmer was born in Little Comp- 
ton, Rhode Island, November 12, 1808, 
of Pilgrim stock. He was licensed to 
preach in 1832, and in 1835 became 
pastor of a Congregational church in 
Bath, Maine, where he remained for 
fifteen years. In 1847 he spent some 
time in foreign travel. Soon after his 
return, in 1850, he became pastor of 
the First Congregational Church, in 
Albany, New York. He left this 
charge in 1866 to become Correspond- 
ing Secretary of the American Con- 
gregational Union, New York City, 
where he remained until 1878, when 
failing health compelled him to resign. 
His latter years were spent in literary 
and general pastoral work in and about 
Newark, New Jersey, where he died 
March 29, 1887. 

He was an able preacher, a volumin- 
ous writer, and a graceful poet; and 
Mark Hopkins pronounced him one of 
the best-read men of his time in philos- 

76 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

ophy and moral science. The hymn 
which made him famous, " My Faith 
Looks Up to Thee," has had a wonder- 
ful history. Dr. Charles Ray Palmer, 
of New Haven, Connecticut, son of Dr. 
Palmer, writes: " Hardly a hymnal of 
the English-speaking people — except 
one or two recent extremely sectarian 
ones — is without it. It has been 
translated into Latin, Greek, Hebrew, 
Arabic, Chinese, several languages of 
the Turkish Empire, several of India, 
of Africa, and of the islands of the 
Pacific, and into some of those of mod- 
ern Europe." 

The following very interesting story 
is told in connection with one of these 
translations : 

" Mrs. Layyah Barakat, a native of 
Syria, was educated in Beirut and then 
taught for a time in Egypt. Driven 
out in 1882 by the insurrection of 
Arabi Pasha, she, with her husband and 
child, came to America by way of 

77 



, FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Malta and Marseilles. Her history is 
a strange illustration of God's provi- 
dential care, as they were without any 
direction or friends in Philadelphia 
when they landed. But the Lord took 
them into His own keeping, and 
brought them to those who had known 
of her in Syria. While in this country 
she frequently addressed large audi- 
ences, to whom her deep earnestness 
and broken but piquant English proved 
unusually attractive. Among other in- 
cidents she related that she had been 
permitted to see the conversion of her 
whole family, who were Maronites of 
Mount Lebanon. Her mother, sixty- 
two years of age, had been taught ' My 
Faith Looks Up to Thee' in Arabic. 
They would sit on the house roof and 
repeat it together; and when the news 
came back to Syria that the daughter 
was safe in America, the mother could 
send her no better proof of her faith 
and love than in the beautiful words 

78 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

of this hymn, assuring her that her 
faith still looked up to Christ." 

In one of the letters published in 
the Life of Henry Martyn, that de- 
voted missionary said that to him " the 
conversion of a Mahommedan to Chris- 
tianity would be as great a miracle as 
any one ever recorded." A number of 
years ago Dr. Henry Jessup, writing 
from Syria, said, " Tell Dr. Palmer 
that as I write, I hear a hundred and 
twenty Mahommedan girls singing in 
their own language, * My Faith Looks 
Up to Thee. 5 " 

" All the hymns on your list," writes 
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, General Agent 
of Education in Alaska, "are choice 
ones, and have accomplished a great 
work in this and other lands in estab- 
lishing and building up Christian char- 
acter. For my own personal comfort, 
I have found that ' My Faith Looks 
Up to Thee ' has given me the most of 
spiritual help and strength." Doubtless 

79 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

this voices the sentiment of thousands 
of hearts which have been lifted up 
and made better by means of the splen- 
did declaration of trust and confidence 
in God as expressed in the words of 
this immortal hymn. 

" ' My Faith Looks Up to Thee/ " 
says the Rev. Albert B. Marshall, D.D., 
" is my favourite among all hymns. It 
is, I am sure, the hymn which most 
accurately expresses the aspirations of 
many trusting hearts. I have fre- 
quently noticed how eagerly a company 
of worshippers will join in the sing- 
ing if some one will begin." And Dr. 
E. O. Sutherland bears the same testi- 
mony: " I find," he says, " ' My Faith 
Looks Up to Thee ' one of the most 
useful hymns for impromptu singing 
in all kinds of prayer-meetings; espe- 
cially, however, where there is sorrow 
or trouble." 

" While spending a few days in the 
Grand Hotel Magenta, Paris, France," 

80 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

writes the Rev. Curtis Edward Long, 

" I became quite ill, and being among 

strangers and in the solitude of my own 

room, I was much depressed in spirit. 

I sought comfort on my knees in 

prayer, and found myself repeating 

the second verse of ' My Faith Looks 

Up to Thee': 

" * May Thy rich grace impart 
Strength to my fainting heart.' 

My prayer was answered, I was re- 
stored in body and spirit, and on the 
following day took the train for 
Rome." 

Evangelist C. T. Shaeffer relates 
this interesting incident: " Some years 
ago there came to this country a little 
clog dancer, widely known as Mike 
Riley, the champion of the world. Al- 
though educated only in his heels, yet 
he was able to command a large salary, 
but finally drink took possession of him 
and he became an outcast and a vaga- 
bond along the Bowery. 

6 81 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" One cold winter's night, homeless, 
hungry, and forsaken, he determined to 
end his miserable life in the river. On 
his way down, he passed the Bowery 
Mission. The door happened to stand 
open for a moment, and the light and 
cheer had their powerful appeal for the 
desolate little dancer. He was drawn 
inside, ' just to get warm once more 
before ending it all in the river/ he 
afterward said. ' My Faith Looks Up 
to Thee * was being sung by scores of 
redeemed men, and by others who were 
seeking salvation, and the words had 
their special message of hope for the 
wanderer. When the usual invitation 
was given, he went forward and sur- 
rendered himself to his Master. He 
immediately started out to win fallen 
men from their sin, and so continued 
heroically until his death." 

"On one occasion," says Rev. Charles 
Eugene Dunn, " the senior class of 
Union Theological Seminary spent the 

82 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

afternoon as the invited guests of Mr. 
John Crosby Brown, Orange Moun- 
tain, New Jersey. Dr. Palmer was 
also a guest, and while we stood in the 
parlor, a sudden inspiration moved us 
to sing his great hymn, ' My Faith 
Looks Up to Thee.' When we began, 
the president of our seminary, Dr. 
Roswell D. Hitchcock, advanced to 
Dr. Palmer, and the two stood, with 
arms interlocked, while this greatest of 
American hymns was being sung in the 
presence of its author. It meant but 
little to the outside world, perhaps, but 
to us it was a deeply affecting sight 
to see these two noble men — the great 
author and the great historian, both so 
soon to behold the Lamb of Calvary 
in His beauty r— thus standing clasped 
in brotherly embrace." 

Many will recall the thrilling experi- 
ence of the passengers on the German 
steamship " Spree," in December, 1882. 
During a fearful storm the propeller 

83 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

broke, knocking a large hole through 
her bottom and leaving her helpless. 
She was not only in danger of sinking, 
but she was also rapidly driven out of 
her course. The passengers were in a 
panic, and one leaped overboard to his 
death. Dwight L. Moody, who was on 
the vessel, inspired all with courage by 
his splendid composure and by his oft- 
repeated assurance that God would 
answer their prayers and bring them 
safely to land. He frequently said 
afterward, that nothing short of the 
direct interposition of Providence in 
answer to prayer saved the ship. 
" There never was," he said, " a more 
earnest prayer than that of those seven 
hundred souls on their helpless, almost 
sinking ship in mid-ocean on that 
Sunday, when we met in the saloon to 
implore God's help ; and God answered 
us, as I knew He would. He sent the 
5 Lake Huron ' to our rescue and made 
the storm a calm." " At this meeting," 

84 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

wrote General O.O. Howard, who was 
a fellow passenger with Moody, " we 
sang a number of hymns, among them 
being ' My Faith Looks Up to Thee.' 
The singing was led by a Catholic lady, 
who was returning to the United States 
from South America by way of Eng- 
land. We were a united band of God's 
children, praying for deliverance." 

A war incident in connection with 
this hymn is worthy of being repeated: 
Some six or eight Christian officers of 
a New York regiment, whose time had 
expired, were eagerly expecting to be 
mustered out when the forward move- 
ment was ordered, which resulted in the 
battle of Fredericksburg. They spent 
the evening preceding the battle in se- 
rious talk which ended in hymn-singing 
and prayer. They believed that this 
would be their last night together; and 
they knew that it would be a source of 
joy and comfort to their loved ones at 
home to learn that their trust in God 

85 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

faltered not, so they wrote on a sheet 
of paper the hymn " My Faith Looks 
Up to Thee," and signed their names 
at the bottom. The next evening found 
several of these brave young fellows 
lying cold and still beneath the stars. 
The prayer of each now silent voice: 

" O bear me safe above, 
A ransomed soul," 

had been answered. One of the sur- 
vivors told Dr. Palmer this beautiful 
story of devotion and faith. 

Dr. Charles Ray Palmer gives us 
this pleasant personal glimpse of his 
father: " If I were to speak of him as 
he was in his later years, I should men- 
tion as eminently characteristic of him 
a thorough conscientiousness and hon- 
esty; and add, that he always seemed 
to have himself well in hand. He had 
a sensitive nature, but it was under 
control. He was a loyal friend and a 
generous opponent. Of guile, or of 

86 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

enmity, he was wholly incapable. Firm 
and intelligent in his convictions, and 
having the courage and the skill to de- 
fend them, he was without a trace of big- 
otry or narrowness. He was judicious 
in counsel, and often a peacemaker. 
Rich and quick in his sympathies, he 
never let them lead him astray. 

" Poetry was at first a spontaneous 
outcome of his highly susceptible na- 
ture — the overflow of abundant feel- 
ing; then something to which he turned 
aside from sterner pursuits for relief 
and recreation — half jealous lest it ab- 
sorb too much of the time and strength 
that his vocation demanded; then, as 
a means of self -culture, and especially 
of spiritual self -culture ; and, finally, 
a high and holy service to which he felt 
called of God and of his age. 

" Nothing could have surprised him 
more than did the wide acceptance of 
' My Faith Looks Up to Thee,' to him 
only the outcome in a still hour of a 

8T 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

surcharged heart. If the writing of it 
were a service to the Church, never was 
service more unwittingly rendered; if 
it were a work of art, never was art 
more unconscious. I consider it a beau- 
tiful illustration of the truth that, as 
a rule, the best work we do, we do 
without knowing it." 

" My Faith Looks Up to Thee " was 
written when Dr. Palmer was twenty- 
two. In an appendix to his " Poetical 
Works," published in 1876, he has 
given this interesting description of his 
life at this period and of the origin of 
the hymn : 

" Immediately after graduating at 
Yale College, in September, 1830, the 
writer went to the city of New York 
to spend a year in teaching in a select 
school for young ladies. This private 
institution, which was patronised by the 
best class of families, was under the 
direction of an excellent Christian lady 
connected with St. George's Church, 

88 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

the rector of which was then the good 
Dr. James Milnor. It was in Fulton 
Street, west of Broadway, and a little 
below Church Street, on the south side 
of the way. That whole section of the 
city, now covered with immense stores 
and crowded with business, was then 
occupied by genteel residences. The 
writer resided in the family of the lady 
who kept the school, and it was there 
that the hymn was written. 

" It had no external occasion what- 
ever. Having been accustomed from 
childhood, through an inherited pro- 
pensity perhaps, to the occasional ex- 
pression of what his heart felt, in the 
form of verse, it was in accordance 
with this habit, and in an hour when 
Christ, in the riches of His grace and 
love, was so vividly apprehended as 
to fill the soul with deep emotion, that 
the lines were composed. There was 
not the slightest thought of writing 
for another eye, least of all writing a 

89 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

hymn for Christian worship. Away 
from outward excitement, in the quiet 
of his chamber, and with a deep con- 
sciousness of his own needs, the writer 
transferred as faithfully as he could to 
paper what at the time was passing 
within him. Six stanzas were com- 
posed and imperfectly written, first on 
a loose sheet, and then accurately 
copied into a small morocco-covered 
book, which for such purposes the 
author was accustomed to carry in his 
pocket. This first complete copy is 
still [1875] preserved. It is well re- 
membered that when writing the last 
line, 'A ransomed soul/ the thought 
that the whole work of redemption and 
salvation was involved in those words, 
and suggested the theme of eternal 
praises, moved the writer to a degree 
of emotion that brought abundant tears. 
" A year or two after the hymn was 
written, and when no one, so far as 
can be recollected, had ever seen it, 

90 




WITH A DEEP CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS OWN NEEDS, HE TRANS- 
FERRED TO PAPER, AS FAITHFULLY AS HE COULD, 
WHAT WAS PASSING WITHIN HIM." Page 90. 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

Dr. Lowell Mason met the author in 
the street in Boston, and requested him 
to furnish some hymns for a Hymn 
and Tune Book, which, in connection 
with Dr. Hastings of New York, he 
was about to publish. The little book 
containing the hymn was shown him, 
and he asked for a copy. We stepped 
into a store together, and a copy was 
made and given to him, which, without 
much notice, he put in his pocket. On 
sitting down at home and looking it 
over, he became so much interested in 
it that he wrote for it the tune * Olivet/ 
in which it has almost universally been 
sung. Two or three days afterward 
we met again in the street, when, 
scarcely waiting to salute the writer, 
he earnestly exclaimed: 'Mr. Palmer, 
you may live many years and do many 
good things, but I think you will be 
best known to posterity as the author 
of ' My Faith Looks Up to Thee! ' " 
Dr, C. R. Palmer thus writes of his 

.91 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

father's closing hours : " His love for 
hymns grew upon him in his declin- 
ing years. They became not only his 
psalms of adoration, but his songs of 
hope and gladness, his voices of sorrow 
and comfort, his petitions, his litanies, 
and his intercessions. They were the 
occupation of his latest hours. As I 
watched by his bedside when, through 
the paralysis of his throat, he was 
slowly starving to death, and mortal 
weakness was limiting more and more 
his consciousness of his environment, I 
discerned that they were still in his 
thoughts. Toward the very last I de- 
tected in his laborious effort at utter- 
ance, first the rhythm, and then a 
syllable or two — scarcely articulated 
— of a familiar stanza. It was one of 
his own: 

" ' When death these mortal eyes shall seal 
And still this throbbing heart; 
The rending veil shall Thee reveal, 
All glorious as Thou art ! ' 



MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 

" After this he went on his way, and 
I heard him no more. But for us who 
are left behind, it is pleasant to think 
that, while joining in the praises of 
Heaven, he is not without his continued 
participation in the worship on earth. 
This is the abiding recompense of the 
hymn-writer." 



93 



V 

SUN OF MY SOUL 



&tm of mv soul, Cfjou g>abiour bear, 
3ft is not mgt)t if Ctou be near ; 
<© map no eartf)=born cloub arise 
Co ijtbe Cfjee from Cfjp serbaut'S epe«. 

&fjen tije Soft betos of feinblp Sleep 
Mv toearieb epelibs; gentlp steep, 
l&t mp last tfjougfjt, tjoto stoeet to rest 
Jf oreber on mp Sbabiour'S breast 

iSlbibe toitb me from mom tttt ebe, 
Jf or toitbout Wfyn 3f cannot Itbe ; 
Slbtbe tottfj me toben ntgbt is ntgf), 
Jf or toitbout Cbee 3 bare not bie. 

3Jf some poor toanbering cbilb of ®bine 
J|as spurneb to=bap tbe boice bibtne, 
jjoto, £orb, tbe gracious toork begin; 
Het bun no more lie boton in sin. 

Wattt) bp tbe sicfe ; enricb tbe poor 
&ttb blessings from Wty bounbless Store ; 
JSe eberp mourner's sleep tonigbt, 
Hifee infants' slumbers, pure anb ligbt. 

Come near anb bless us tofjen toe toafee, 
€re tbrougb tbe toorlb our toap toe take ; 
Will in tbe ocean of Cf)p lobe 
Wt lose ourselbes in Jleafaen abobe. 

7 




SUN OF MY SOUL 

ERHAPS to few men, if 
any, could Fitz-Greene 
Halleck's tender lines on 
the death of Joseph Rod- 
man Drake, 

" None knew thee but to love thee, 
Nor named thee but to praise," 

be more truthfully applied than to 
" dear John Keble," as his friends and 
intimate associates loved to call him, 
the author of that most exquisite of 
evening hymns, " Sun of My Soul." 

" I suppose," wrote a friend, " that 
no one has died in England within our 
time who has been so dearly beloved, 
and whose memory will be held in such 
tender reverence. What I think re- 
markable was not how many people 
loved him, or how much they loved 
him, but that everybody seemed to love 
him with the very best love of which 

90 

LOFC. 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

they were capable. It was like loving 
goodness itself; you felt that what was 
good in him was bringing into life all 
that was best in you." 

Another friend declared that " there 
is something of the mellow brightness 
of a summer Sunday about his life 
and work " ; and although he obtained 
the highest honours of his university, it 
is far more to his credit to be informed 
that " he was more remarkable for his 
rare beauty of character than even 
for his academic distinctions." An old 
schoolmate, looking back through the 
misty distance of more than a half 
century, wrote: "It was the singular 
happiness of his nature, even in his 
undergraduate days, that love for him 
was always sanctified by reverence — 
reverence that did not make the love 
less tender, and love that did but add 
to the intensity of the reverence." 

He was passionately fond of chil- 
dren, the more so, perhaps, because of 
100 



SUN OF MY SOUL 

the great heart-hunger occasioned by 
having none of his own. He once said 
to a number of little scholars who had 
been singing for him: " My dear chil- 
dren, you sang most beautifully in tune. 
May your whole lives be equally in 
tune, and then you will sing with the 
angels in Heaven." 

John Keble was born in Fairford, 
England, April 25, 1792. His father, 
a clergyman of the Church of Eng- 
land, is described as being " a sweet- 
natured man and a fine classical scholar, 
who took charge of his son's education; 
and so successfully, that at fifteen he 
was admitted to Corpus Christi Col- 
lege, Oxford." He was a brilliant stu- 
dent, and was graduated in 1810 with 
double first-class honours, a distinction 
which up to that time had been gained 
alone by Sir Robert Peel. 

In 1816, at the age of twenty- four, 
he was ordained to the ministry, and 
had charge of two small hamlets near 

101 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Fairford. From 1818 to 1823 he was 
a tutor in Oxford. He then resumed 
the ministerial duties of his former 
parishes, although the remuneration was 
only about one hundred pounds. The 
following year he was offered an ap- 
pointment as archdeacon, which carried 
with it a salary of two thousand pounds, 
but this he declined. In 1826 he be- 
came his father's curate, and in 1831 
accepted the professorship of poetry in 
Oxford. 

He was an attractive preacher. " I 
recollect," says one, " what music there 
was in the simple earnestness and sweet 
gravity with which he spoke." " He 
was eminently winning," wrote Dr. 
Pusey; "he let himself down to the 
most uneducated in his audience. He 
seemed always to count himself as one 
of the sinners, one of the penitents." 
John Henry Newman, afterward Car- 
dinal Newman, who was a very dear 
friend of Keble, says : " On one occa- 

102 



SUN OF MY SOUL 

sion he preached a sermon in the Uni- 
versity which made a great impression. 
Froude and I left St. Mary's so much 
touched by it that we did not speak to 
each other all the way down to Oriel." 
It was while Keble was filling the 
chair of poetry in Oxford that he 
entered upon a movement which was 
destined to be far-reaching in its influ- 
ence upon his own and subsequent 
times. Cardinal Newman writes: " On 
Sunday, July 14, 1833, Mr. Keble 
preached the assise sermon in the Uni- 
versity. It was published under the 
title of ' National Apostasy.' I have 
ever considered and kept the day as 
the start of the religious movement of 
1833." One of the chief objects of 
this movement, the " Oxford Move- 
ment," as it is frequently called, was 
to raise to a higher standard the spirit- 
ual condition of the Church of Eng- 
land; and one of the results was, that 
John Henry Newman, a leader with 

103 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Keble and Pusey in the movement, left 
the Episcopal Church, after a long 
struggle for light, and united with 
the Roman Catholic Church, in which 
Church he afterward became a Cardi- 
nal. ; This action of Newman was to 
his friend Keble and others a source of 
lifelong sorrow, i^- 

In 1835 Keble's father died, in the 
ninetieth year of his age, and his son 
succeeded him as vicar of Hursley, 
which position he held for thirty years, 
and in which he died in 1866, in his 
seventy-fourth year. His wife, whom 
he married shortly after his father's 
death, and to whom he was devotedly 
attached, lived less than two months 
longer. 

It is, however, through his famous 
collection of poems, The Christian 
Year, that Keble is best known and 
will be longest remembered. These 
poems were written between 1819 and 
1827. The early attempts were in- 

104 



SUN OF MY SOUL 

tended for his own church people to 
use on red-letter days in the Church 
calendar, but the scope of the work was 
afterward enlarged so as to complete 
the entire calendar, thus making it a 
poetical summary of the Christian year, 
and a companion to the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer. 

He himself placed but little value on 
his poems, and it was only at the re- 
peated solicitations of his father and 
friends that he finally permitted them 
to be published, anonymously, in 1827. 
They at once leaped into almost phe- 
nomenal popularity. " It was," wrote 
Cardinal Newman, " the most soothing, 
tranquilising, subduing work of the 
day; if poems can be found to enliven 
in dejection and to comfort in anxiety, 
to cool the over-sanguine and to refresh 
the weary, to awe the worldly, to instil 
resignation into the impatient, and 
calmness into the fearful and agitated, 
they are these." 

105 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

The work has become a Christian 
classic. Archdeacon Prescott writes: 
" I myself know of no body of unin- 
spired poetry where purity and power, 
where knowledge of the Holy Scrip- 
tures and knowledge of the human 
heart, where the love of nature and the 
love of Christ are so wonderfully com- 
bined." While Canon Barry says, 
"It is a book which leads the soul up 
to God"; and Dr. Arnold declares, 
" Nothing equal to the poems exists in 
our language/ ' 

John Mason Neale, a man to whom 
English hymnology owes much because 
of his matchless translations of the 
early Latin and Greek hymns into 
English, was a close friend of Keble. 
One day Keble, whom he was visiting, 
had to leave the room for a time, and 
when he returned, Neale said, " Why, 
Keble, I thought you always told me 
that The Christian Year was original." 
" Yes," he said, " it certainly is." " Then 

106 



SUN OF MY SOUL 

how comes this? " and Neale placed be- 
fore him the Latin of one of Keble's 
poems. Keble was amazed, but pro- 
tested that he had never seen it before. 
After enjoying his friend's evident dis- 
comfiture for a moment, Dr. Neale in- 
formed him that it was one of his own 
and that he had made the Latin trans- 
lation during his absence. 

Before Keble's death, ninety-five edi- 
tions of the book had been sold; and 
this number had increased to one hun- 
dred and nine editions the year after 
his death. Between the time of publi- 
cation, in 1827, and 1873, three hundred 
and five thousand copies of the book 
had been printed, and the number is 
now above a half million. Nothing, 
perhaps, could better illustrate its wide 
circulation than to state that on one 
occasion four strangers met on Mt. 
Sinai, and it was discovered that three 
of them were in possession of The 
Christian Year. 

107 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

It was from the proceeds of the sale 
of the book that the author largely re- 
built his parish church. 

It was in the second poem printed in 
The Christian Year that Keble's fa- 
mous evening hymn, " Sun of My 
Soul," first appeared — a hymn which 
voices the sentiments and the prayers 
of countless Christian hearts as the 
twilight fades into night and they yield 
themselves to sleep and helplessness. 

In a wild night a gallant ship went 
to her doom. A few women and chil- 
dren were placed in a boat, without oars 
or sails, and drifted away at the mercy 
of the waves. Earlier in the evening, 
before the darkness had quite settled 
down, brave men on the shore had seen 
the peril of the vessel and had put out 
in the face of the tempest, hoping to 
save human life, but even the ship could 
not be found. After fruitless search, 
they were about returning to the shore, 
when out on the water, and above the 

108 



SUN OF MY SOUL 

wail of the storm, they heard a woman's 
clear voice singing: 

" Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, 
It is not night, if Thou be near." 

The work of rescue was quickly accom- 
plished. But for the singing, in all 
probability, this boat-load of lives would 
have drifted beyond human help or 
been dashed to pieces before morning. 

Chaplain Wright, after an experi- 
ence of twenty years in the United 
States Navy, declares that he finds no 
hymn with a more permanent hold on 
the affection of marines and sailors than 
" Sun of My Soul." 

The Cree Indians of the Northwest 
Territory sing this hymn in their own 
language and prize it very highly. " In 
1886, a deputation of that portion of 
the tribe under the instruction of the 
Presbyterian Church waited upon one 
of the Synods to press their claims. 
There were no orators in the delegation, 

109 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

but there were some good voices that 
sweetly melted into the tender melody 
of Keble's ' Sun of My Soul'; and the 
hymn, though sung in the language of 
the Crees, made a deeper impression 
upon the Synod than any other words 
they could use." 

A visitor once asked Alfred Tenny- 
son what his thoughts were of Christ. 
They were walking in a garden, and, 
for a moment, the great poet was si- 
lent, then, bending over some beautiful 
flowers, he said: "What the sun is 
to these flowers Jesus Christ is to my 
soul. He is the sun of my soul." Con- 
sciously or unconsciously he was ex- 
pressing the same thought in the same 
language used by good John Keble 
years before when he gave to the world 
his great heart hymn, " Sun of My 
Soul." 

Much of the usefulness of a hymn is 
lost because many persons fail to study 
its words carefully and make its senti- 
110 



SUN OF MY SOUL 

merits voice their own deeper feelings 
and spiritual aspirations. " Sun of My 
Soul " is one of the finest examples in 
our language of what a true prayer 
hymn should be. Beginning with a 
beautiful acknowledgment of what God 
is to us, there follows an earnest suppli- 
cation that debasing thoughts may 
be driven away, that " no earth-born 
cloud " may arise to hide us from our 
Saviour; indeed, the first three stanzas 
are devoted to an earnest plea for the 
right relation of our own hearts to God. 
From that point it is easy and natural 
to think of and pray for others. How 
inclusive are the next two stanzas! — 
the wanderer, the sick, the poor, the 
mourner, are all sympathetically re- 
membered; and then follow the tender 
and comforting appeal for divine guid- 
ance throughout our earthly life and 
the exquisitely expressed belief in an 
eternity of joy with which the hymn 
ends: 

in 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" Come near and bless us when we wake, 
Ere through the world our way we take, 
Till in the ocean of Thy love 
We lose ourselves in Heaven above." 

Keble himself admirably illustrated 
in his own life the trustful spirit he so 
perfectly portrays in his hymn; he let 
no cares make him over-anxious. He 
enjoyed at all times the blessed privi- 
lege of being able to sleep soundly — 
" Because he had no feeling," he would 
laughingly explain; but his wife, with 
intimate knowledge of his fine spiritual 
trustfulness, said: "He lays aside his 
anxieties with his prayers. He does 
the best he can, the issue is with God, 
with whom he is content to leave it, 
therefore he sleeps like a little child." 

When the sun slips down the western 
sky and twilight deepens and darkens 
into night, out on the vast stretches of 
water, in lonely forest cabins, on far- 
reaching prairies, in stately churches, 
on rugged mountain slopes, in crowded 
112 




t 



AND IN QUIET COUNTRY PLACES,, WE TURN INSTINCTIVELY 

TO THE ONE HYMN THAT FITS INTO OUR MOOD 

axd need/'' — Pa ere 113. 



SUN OF MY SOUL 

cities, and in quiet country places, — 
indeed, wherever Christians are found, 
human hearts grow tender with a name- 
less longing which often demands ex- 
pression in words, and instinctively they 
turn to the one hymn that fits most per- 
fectly into their mood and need; they 
feel God's presence and something of 
" the peace that passeth understand- 
ing, " as they sing: 

" Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, 
It is not night, if Thou be near." 



lis 



VI 

LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 



3Uab, feinblp HigJjt, amib tfje encircling gloom, 

Utah Cf)ou me on ; 
&f)e nigfjt is? barfe, anb 3 am far from tome ; 

Heab Cftou me on : 
Sleep Cfjou m;> feet ; 3 bo not aak to dee 
Cfje bidtant dcene, — one dtep enougf) for me* 

31 toad not eber tfmd, nor prapeb tfjat {Efjou 

fefioulbdt leabmeon; 
3 lobeb to cfjoode anb dee mp patf) ; but noto 

Heab Cbou me on. 
3 lobeb tfje garidfj bap, anb, spite of f eard, 
$rtbe ruleb mp totil : remember not padt peard. 

&o long Wbv potoer ftatfj blest me, dure it dtill 

Mill Ieab me on 
©'er moor anb fen, o'er crag anb torrent, till 

Wi)t mgfjt i^ gone ; 
&nb toitfj tfje morn tljode angel fated dmile, 
WiWb 3 fjabe lobeb long dince, anb lodt atofitle. 




JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, AUTHOR OP LEAD, KINDLY 
LIGHT." 



LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 



msm 



EZEKIAH BUTTER- 
WORTH, an authority 
on hymnology, pro- 
nounces this to be "the 
sweetest and most trust- 
ful of modern hymns "; while Colonel 
Nicholas Smith says, " Christians of all 
denominations and of every grade of 
culture feel its charm and find in it 'a 
language for some of the deepest yearn- 
ings of the soul/ The hymn-books do 
not contain a more exquisite lyric. As 
a prayer for a troubled soul for guid- 
ance, it ranks with the most deservedly 
famous church songs in the English 
language/' 

Its distinguished author, John Henry 
Newman, was born February 21, 1801, 
the son of a London banker, and 
seventy-eight years later became a Car- 
dinal of the Roman Catholic Church. 
At the early age of nineteen he was 

119 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

graduated from Trinity College, Ox- 
ford, and became a tutor in Oriel Col- 
lege. He was ordained in 1824, and 
in 1828 was made vicar of St. Mary's 
Protestant Episcopal Church, Oxford. 

He was a popular, forceful preacher, 
with fluent speech, perfect diction, and 
a splendid fund of illustration which he 
always used with telling effect. He 
was deeply interested in the heart-life 
of men, and was ever ready to en- 
courage them to speak to him freely 
of their experiences and temptations. 
He exercised a strong influence over 
the students who thronged his church. 

In December, 1832, because of im- 
paired health, he went with friends to 
southern Europe. The spiritual unrest, 
kindled by the " Oxford Movement," 
which finally led him to unite with the 
Roman Catholic Church, in 1845, was 
already upon him; he sought eagerly 
and conscientiously for divine guidance 
in solving the great doctrinal problems 

120 



LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 

that vexed his soul. It was during this 
period of inner disquietude and of 
anxious thought for the future of the 
Established Church, of which he was 
still a member, that his noble hymn, 
"Lead, Kindly Light," had birth — 
a hymn which has voiced the heart- 
felt prayers of thousands for spiritual 
guidance. 

In the minds of many there is inti- 
mate association of thought between 
Newman's supplication: 

" Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling 
gloom, 

Lead Thou me on ! " 

and another intensely human heart-cry 
for direction and companionship in the 
hour of need — Henry Francis Lyte's 

" Abide with me, fast falls the eventide : 
The darkness deepens: Lord, with me 
abide." 

It is interesting to know that both of 
these hymns were composed on the 

121 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WOELD 

sacred day of rest : Newman's, on Sun- 
day, June 16, 1833; and Lyte's, on 
Sunday, September 5, 1847. 

Newman has left us this very enter- 
taining description of the circumstances 
under which his hymn was written : 

" I went to the various coasts of the 
Mediterranean ; parted with my friends 
at Rome; went down for the second 
time to Sicily, without companion, at 
the end of April. I struck into the 
middle of the Island, and fell ill of 
a fever at Leonforte. My servant 
thought I was dying, and begged for 
my last directions. I gave them, as he 
wished, but I said, ' I shall not die/ I 
repeated * I shall not die, for I have 
not sinned against the Light; I have 
not sinned against the Light.' I 
have never been able quite to make 
out what I meant. 

" I got to Castro-Giovanni, and was 
laid up there for nearly three weeks. 
Toward the end of May I left for 

122 




03 

to 



2 

Q 



< 






O 



< 
> 






LEAD,, KINDLY LIGHT 

Palermo, taking three days for the 
journey. Before starting from my inn, 
on the morning of May 26 or 27, I sat 
down on my bed and began to sob vio- 
lently. My servant, who had acted as 
my nurse, asked what ailed me. I could 
only answer him, ' I have a work to do 
in England/ 

" I was aching to get home; yet, for 
want of a vessel, I was kept at Palermo 
for three weeks. I began to visit the 
churches, and they calmed my impa- 
tience, though I did not attend any of 
the services. At last I got off in an 
orange boat, bound for Marseilles. 
Then it was that I wrote the lines, 
1 Lead, Kindly Light/ We were be- 
calmed a whole week in the Straits of 
Bonifacio. I was writing the whole of 
my passage/' Elsewhere he informs 
us that the exact date on which the 
hymn was written was June 16. 

It is pleasant to think that this much- 
loved hymn, the fervent prayer of a 

123 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

doubt-tossed soul, was written in one 
of the majestic calms that sometimes 
lull to sleep the sunny waters of the 
Mediterranean; and that it caught 
some of its delicious fragrance from 
the perfume that was wafted over the 
waters from the golden cargo with 
which the vessel was freighted. It 
would require but little imagination to 
picture the scene: the clumsy boat, the 
idly-hanging sails, the listless, swarthy 
crew, the brilliant young minister ema- 
ciated by mental and physical suffering, 
the solemn sea, and over all the match- 
less Italian sky and the tender twilight 
calm. Fit hour and surroundings for 
such a hymn to have its being. 

In striking contrast, the music to 
which the words are inseparably wedded, 
was composed by Dr. John B. Dykes 
as he walked through the Strand, one 
of the busiest thoroughfares of London. 
It may be that the tumultuous street 
was typical of the wild unrest in New- 

124 



LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 

man's heart when he began his hymn; 
if so, surely the quiet waters of the 
Mediterranean on that holy Sabbath 
evening might well represent his spir- 
itual calm when it was ended — even 
though subsequent controversial storms 
were destined to beat fiercely upon his 
soul. 

In this connection it may prove inter- 
esting to read the following from 
the Random Recollections of the Rev. 
George Huntington: 

" I had been paying Cardinal New- 
man a visit. For some reason I hap- 
pened to mention his well-known hymn, 
' Lead, Kindly Light,' which he said he 
wrote when a very young man. I ven- 
tured to say, ' It must be a great pleasure 
to you to know that you have written 
a hymn treasured wherever English- 
speaking Christians are to be found; 
and where are they not to be found? ' 
He was silent for some moments, and 
then said with emotion, ' Yes, deeply 

125 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

thankful, and more than thankful!' 
Then, after another pause, ' But, you 
see, it is not the hymn, but the tune, that 
has gained the popularity! The tune 
is by Dykes, and Dr. Dykes was a great 
master.' " 

Perhaps nothing more fully illus- 
trates the general acceptability of this 
beautiful hymn than the fact that 
" when the Parliament of Religion met 
in Chicago during the Columbian Ex- 
position, the representatives of almost 
every creed known to man found two 
things on which they were agreed : They 
could all join in the Lord's Prayer, and 
all could sing ' Lead, Kindly Light.' ' 

When some one, a few years ago, 
asked William E. Gladstone to give the 
names of the hymns of which he was 
most fond, he replied that he was not 
quite sure that he had any favourites; 
and then, after a moment's thought, 
he said: "Lead, Kindly Light," and 
" Rock of Ages." 

126 



LEAD,, KINDLY LIGHT 

" I know no song, ancient or 
modern," writes the Rev. L. A. Banks, 
D.D., " that with such combined ten- 
derness, pathos, and faith, tells the story 
of the Christian pilgrim who walks by- 
faith and not by sight. No doubt it is 
this fidelity to heart experience, com- 
mon to us all, that makes the hymn such 
a universal favourite. There are dark 
nights, and homesick hours, and be- 
calmed seas for each of us, in which it 
is natural for man to cry out in New- 
man's words : 

" ' The night is dark, and I am far from 
home, 

Lead Thou me on. 5 " 

The Rev. James B. Ely, D.D., writes 
as follows : " It is my desire to relate 
one interesting incident in connection 
with ' Lead, Kindly Light.' This hymn 
was sung in the Lemon Hill Pavilion, 
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, on a 
recent Sabbath morning, at a time when 

127 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

the very atmosphere, the beautiful trees 
and the glowing sun seemed to empha- 
sise and make very real the sentiments 
expressed. A young man in the audi- 
ence, who was a Christian, but greatly 
burdened with many anxieties, felt while 
this hymn was being sung and the music 
repeated by the cornet, that God was 
preparing him for some special trial 
through which he must pass. During 
the day and all through the week the 
melody and the words haunted him; 
and there was also a growing feeling 
in his heart that he ought to go to his 
old home and visit his mother. Finally, 
on Friday noon, he determined that he 
would start that very evening, and 
made his plans to do so. Just before 
leaving his place of business, a telegram 
came informing him of his mother's 
sudden death. While the news was a 
great shock to him, yet the singing of 
the hymn and its constant reiteration 
in his thoughts during the week had, 

188 



LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 

in a measure, prepared him for his sore 
bereavement. The hymn has since be- 
come one of his most sacred possessions. 
I have written regarding this unusual 
incident because the experience is so 
fresh in my mind and so real. I may 
add that this hymn has again and again 
been sung by large audiences, and al- 
ways with telling spiritual effect." 

Many will recall that this hymn was 
a special favourite of the late President 
McKinley, and that it was sung far 
and wide in the churches on the first 
anniversary of his death and burial. 

The last stanza of the hymn rings 
out with a grand declaration of trium- 
phant, child-like faith and assurance: 

" So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it 
still 

Will lead me on 
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till 

The night is gone; 
And with the morn those angel faces smile, 
Which I have loved long since, and lost 
awhile." 
9 129 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

There has been some controversy as 
to the author's meaning in the last two 
lines. Nearly a half century after they 
were written some one asked the Car- 
dinal to give an explanation, and in a 
letter dated January 18, 1879, he thus 
wisely replied: 

"You flatter me by your question; 
but I think it was Keble who, when 
asked it in his own case, answered that 
poets were not bound to be critics, or to 
give a sense to what they had written; 
and though I am not, like him, a poet, 
at least I may plead that I am not 
bound to remember my own meaning, 
whatever it was, at the end of almost 
fifty years. Anyhow, there must be a 
statute of limitation for writers of 
verse, or it would be quite tyranny if, 
in an art which is the expression, not of 
truth, but of imagination and senti- 
ment, one were obliged to be ready for 
examination on the transient state of 
mind which came upon one when home- 

130 



LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 

sick, or seasick, or in any other way 
sensitive or excited." 

Cardinal Newman died August 11, 
1890, fifty-seven years after his hymn 
had made his name immortal. 

In addition to the quotations from 
Hezekiah Butterworth and Colonel 
Nicholas Smith, with which the study 
of this hymr begins, it will doubtless 
prove interesting to read what other 
men of prominence have said in this 
connection: 

" This much-laved hymn." — Dr. Louis F. 
Benson, author of " Studies of Familiar 
Hymns." 

" Its sincerity of feeling and purity of 
expression have made it universally accept- 
able." — Samuel Willoughby Duffield, author 
of " English Hymns." 

" This is truer to the life of thoughtful 
men than almost any other hymn, but it is 
so subjective and personal that it is more 
for the closet than for the Church. It is 
the favourite hymn of our students." — The 
President of a prominent University. 

" It can scarcely be called either a great 
131 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

poem or a great hymn, and certainly it is 
not a lyric. Yet it has certain striking pas- 
sages, and appeals to those who for any 
reason are beset by darkness." — Rev. David 
R. Breed, D.D., author of "The History 
and Use of Hymns and Hymn-Tunes." 

" The beautiful hymn, ' Lead, Kindly 
Light,' is of value to the Church for its 
poetry and its pathos. For times of depres- 
sion and darkness come to nearly all of us, 
and this is just the cry which the heart 
bowed down would use at such times of 
anxious and sacred communion." — Rev. G. 
L. Stevens, editor of " Hymns and Carols." 

" The most stirring thing I know is that 
struggling cry of the wanderer for light, 
' For I am far from home.' The writer's 
personality adds pathos to his tender song. 
Out of this song, appropriated by a strug- 
gling soul to himself, one is prepared for the 
sublime and recovering thought in the dream 
of the wanderer, 'with sun gone down, 5 and 
the way appearing ' steps up to heaven.' " — 
Rev. William V. Milligan, D.D., Cambridge, 
Ohio. 



132 



VII 

ROCK OF AGES 



3Rock of ages;, cleft for me, 

ILtt me fjibe mpself in tEfjee ; 

Het tfie toater anb tfje bloob, 

Jf rom WdV ttben s;tbe toijtcfj flotoeb, 

Pe of sin tfje bouble cure, 

Cleanse me from it* guilt anb patoer- 

JSot tfte labours; of mp fjanbs 
Can fulfil Cfjp lato's bemanbs; 
Coulb mp ?eal no respite fmoto, 
Coulb mp tears? for eber f loto, 
Sill for sin coulb not atone ; 
Cfjou must sabe, anb tEfjou alone. 

JSotfjing in mp fjanb 3 firing, 
gnmplp to Ww cross 3f cling ; 
Jlafeeb, come to ®bee for brew, 
helpless, look to Wtttt for grace ; 
Jfoul, 3 to tfje fountain flp ; 
la^asi) me, £§>abiour, or 3 bte, 

<SKifnle 3 brato tfjis fleeting breatfi, 
Wfyzn mp epelibs close in beatf), 
OTfcen 3 soar to toorlbs unfenofam, 
S>ee W$tt on Cftp jubgment tfjrone, 
&ocfe of &ges, cleft for me, 
Het me fjibe mpself in Wm. 



ROCK OF AGES 




EVONSHIRE, the beau- 
tiful, has inspired at 
least three hymns that 
will always be treas- 
ured by spiritually 
minded people: "Just As I Am," by 
Charlotte Elliott; "Abide with Me," 
by Henry Francis Lyte; and "Rock 
of Ages," by Augustus Montague Top- 
lady. The last of these Dr. Charles 
S. Robinson declares to be " the su- 
preme hymn of the language"; and 
Colonel Nicholas Smith says, " No 
other hymn has swept the chords of 
the human heart with a more hallowed 
touch." 

In August, 1756, in a barn in a rural 
district of Ireland, an English youth of 
sixteen, who had been carefully reared 
by a widowed and cultured mother, lis- 
tened with rapt attention to an impas- 
sioned sermon from the text, " But now 

137 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were 
far off are made nigh by the blood 
of Christ." — EphesiQns 2 : 13. The 
speaker was James Morris, an illiterate 
layman, a disciple of the Wesleys; the 
boy was the future author of " Rock of 
Ages." 

Toplady writes as follows of this in- 
cident in his career: " St^hge that I, 
who had so long sat under the means 
of grace in England, should be brought 
nigh unto God in an obscure part of 
Ireland, amidst a handful of God's peo- 
ple, met together in a barn, and under 
the ministry of one who could hardly 
spell his name. Surely, it is the Lord's 
doing, and it is marvellous. The excel- 
lency of such power must be of God, 
and cannot be of man." 

In thus blessing the work of Mr. 
Morris by the conversion of the gifted 
boy we have an admirable illustration of 
how the Master can use the humblest of 
men in the salvation of others. 

138 



ROCK OF AGES 

Shortly after, Toplady became a 
student in Trinity College, Dublin, 
from which institution he was in due 
course gradu@ted. At the age of 
twenty-two he was made a priest, and 
became curate of Farleigh, and in 1768 
he was appointed to Broad Hembury, 
in Devonshire. Here the first signs of 
the dread disease, consumption, mani- 
fested themselves. In 1775 he went to 
London, hoping that a drier atmosphere 
would prove beneficial, and while there 
he preached for a time in a French Cal- 
vinistic church; but his health con- 
tinued to fail, and he died on the 11th 
of August, 1778, at the age of thirty- 
eight. He had lived long enough, how- 
ever, to give to the world one of its most 
highly treasured heart-songs. 

When " Rock of Ages " was writ- 
ten is not known, but we may be sure 
that it was nothing less than the voice 
of the Almighty that inspired the au- 
thor to write words of such soul-stirring 

139 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

power. The hymn first appeared, in an 
unfinished form, in the Gospel Maga- 
zine of October, 1775, and more fully 
the succeeding year in the March num- 
ber of the same periodical. 

The Rev. William Reeside Kirk- 
wood, D.D., LL.D., writes: 

" This hymn has been very dear to 
me from my childhood. It was a great 
help to me in the days when I sought 
rest and found none, while seeking par- 
don for sin. It, like Wesley's ' Jesus, 
Lover of My Soul/ is a very direct and 
personal appeal to God, but it has a 
statelier flow. It recognises the chasm 
and the cause of it — not so much in 
words as by implication. It is personal, 
but it notes the Rock of Eternity, and 
the Cleft in the Rock. It suggests 
Moses at Sinai. It does not lose sight 
of the Law, the Lightning, the Judg- 
ment; yet, when its spirit is appre- 
hended and entered into, how secure one 
feels! For it is not merely the loving 

140 



ROCK OF AGES 

man Jesus who appears alone, but 
' Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily,' so that seeing 
Him we see the Father, and realise the 
whole glory of the present Godhead as 
our security. At least, this is the way it 
appeals to me. 

" In this connection let me tell you of 
a version I had in my boyhood of the 
circumstances under which these two 
hymns were written. I have never seen 
it in print. It was told me by a man 
many years my senior, and a close and 
careful student: Wesley and Toplady 
met under circumstances which led to 
heated theological and doctrinal contro- 
versy; and, of course, the debate was 
on one or more of the ' Five Points.' 
They argued until after midnight, but 
neither could convince the other. They 
separated, each filled with spiritual ex- 
altation. Full of joy and comfort from 
his view, Wesley wrote ' Jesus, Lover 
of My Soul/ before he slept In like 
ui 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

manner, Toplady, exultant in his view, 
wrote ' Rock of Ages ' before he sought 
rest. Thus out of hours of spirited 
controversy on the ' Five Points ' grew 
two of the noblest hymns of our 
language." 

Mr. W. T. Stead makes the follow- 
ing interesting reference to this theo- 
logical controversy: "Toplady was a 
sad polemist whose orthodox soul was 
outraged by the Arminianism of the 
Wesleys, and he put much of his time 
and energy into the composition of con- 
troversial pamphlets, on which the good 
man prided himself not a little. The 
dust lies thick upon these his works, nor 
is it likely to be disturbed now or in the 
future. But in a pause in the fray, just 
by way of filling up an interval in the 
firing of the polemical broadsides, Top- 
lady thought he saw a way of launching 
an airy dart at a joint in Wesley's ar- 
mour; so, without much ado, and with- 
out any knowledge that it was by this 

U2 



< 

O 

M 

u 
o 

H 

CO 



* H 












ROCK OF AGES 

alone he was to render permanent ser- 
vice to mankind, he sent off to the 
Gospel Magazine the hymn ' Rock of 
Ages/ When it appeared, he had, no 
doubt, considerable complacency in re- 
flecting how he had winged his oppon- 
ent for his insolent doctrine of entire 
sanctification, and it is probable that be- 
fore he died — for he only survived its 
publication by two years — he had still 
no conception of the relative impor- 
tance of his own work. But to-day the 
world knows Toplady only as the writer 
of these four verses. All else that he 
laboured over it has forgotten ; and, in- 
deed, does well to forget." 

The Rev. Edward Milton Page, 
D.D., says: "'Rock of Ages' was 
taught me by my mother when a child 
upon her knee. It is the first hymn or 
song of any kind my heart ever knew 
or my lips ever tried to lisp. My Chris- 
tian life began with ' Rock of Ages,' 
and may it end in being hid in Him." 

143 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

An English friend has kindly fur- 
nished the following interesting inci- 
dent: "Many years ago, during a 
heated discussion in the House of Com- 
mons, an opponent of William E. Glad- 
stone was attacking him with words of 
unusual severity, and he was observed 
to be writing diligently, apparently 
framing a reply. A friend, seated 
near him, was curious to learn how it was 
that his leader so successfully preserved 
his calm repose under such a torrent of 
invective. Looking over Mr. Glad- 
stone's shoulder, he found him busily 
engaged in translating into Latin 
' Rock of Ages,' his favourite hymn. 
Fortunately, this translation has been 
preserved. 

" ' lesus, pro me perforatus, 
Condar intra tuum latus, 
Tu per lympham profluentem, 
Tu per sanguvnem tepentem, 
In peccata mi redunda, 
Tolle culpam, sordes munda. 

144 



ROCK OF AGES 

" ' Coram te nee iustus forem, 
Quamvis tota vi laborem, 
Nee si fide nunquam cesso, 
Fletu stillans indefesso; 
Tibi soli tantum munus; 
Salva me, Salvator unus! 

" * Nil in manu mecum fero, 
Sed me versus crucem gero; 
Yestvmenta nudus oro 9 
Opem debilis imploro; 
Fontem Christi qucero immundiis, 
Nisi laves, moribundus. 

" 6 Dum hos artus vita regit; 
Quando nox sepulchro tegit; 
Mortuos cum stare tubes, 
Sedens index inter nubes; 
Icsus, pro me perforatus, 
Condar mtra tuum latus. 9 " 

Gladstone also translated this hymn 
into Greek and Italian. At the end of 
a noble life, which had been devoted to 
the best interests of his fellowmen, he 
had this hymn sung to him, and found 
his most comforting hope in the lines : 

" Nothing in my hand I bring, 
Simply to Thy cross I cling." 
10 145 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

All who attempt to translate this 
beautiful hymn into other languages are 
not so happy in their effort as was Mr. 
Gladstone. A missionary in India 
writes that he employed a Hindoo 
scholar to assist him in translating 
" Rock of Ages " into the vernacular. 
His surprise may be imagined when he 
read, as the result of the eff ort of the 
learned Oriental, the first two lines: 

" Very old stone, split for my benefit, 
Let me get under one of your fragments." 

This hymn was a favourite with 
Prince Albert, the husband of Queen 
Victoria, and when he lay dying in 
Windsor Castle in 1861, almost his last 
words were : " I have had wealth, power, 
and fame, but if these were all that I 
had had, what would I have now?" 
And then he was heard repeating softly 
and reverently, 

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee." 

146 



ROCK OF AGES 

When the steamship " London " went 
to her doom in the Bay of Biscay in 
1866, the last sounds borne over the 
waters to those who succeeded in mak- 
ing their escape were not wails of de- 
spair, but the brave, hopeful prayer 
voiced in the words of this immortal 
hymn. 

Dr. S. S. Pomeroy states that in an 
Armenian church in Constantinople he 
was deeply moved by hearing a Turk- 
ish translation of this hymn sung, and 
by seeing many of the worshippers 
singing with eyes filled with tears. 

An incident somewhat similar is re- 
lated of the celebration of the golden 
jubilee of Queen Victoria, when rep- 
resentatives from every land came to 
congratulate her on her long and pros- 
perous reign. Among these was a native 
of Madagascar. After conveying his 
good wishes to the Queen, he suggested 
that, if agreeable, he would like to sing 
to her. Naturally, it was expected that 

147 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

he would sing one of his native songs, 
but, to the surprise of all, he sang 
" Rock of Ages." The Rev. Duncan 
Morrison, of Owen Sound, Canada, 
who was present, writes: 

" There was profound and awkward 
silence which was difficult to break, for 
many were affected to tears in seeing 
the coming back of seed sown on the 
waters in missionary faith and zeal. All 
were taken by surprise, little expecting 
to hear from the lips of the Hova on 
this grand occasion the sweetest of all 
the songs of Zion. The venerable man 
took delight in telling his hearers that 
this one song had been very close to his 
heart and had enabled him to while 
away many a weary hour in his pilgrim- 
age through life." 

General J. E. B. Stuart, the famous 
Confederate cavalry leader, received a 
mortal wound at Yellow Tavern, Vir- 
ginia, and died in a hospital in Rich- 
mond on the 12th of May, 1864, at 

148 



ROCK OF AGES 

the age of thirty-one. When his old 
minister, to whom he was devotedly 
attached, came to see him, he requested 
that " Rock of Ages " be sung. The 
young General joined in the hymn, 
but soon his voice faltered and failed. 
" I feel," he whispered, " that I am 
going fast. I am ready. God's will 
be done." And with the words of the 
precious hymn still ringing in his ears, 
he passed on to join the heavenly com- 
pany who have " washed their robes 
and made them white in the blood of 
the Lamb." 

The following incident admirably 
illustrates the spirit of the hymn: " The 
noble old song has had a new meaning 
to me since an experience a friend and I 
had one summer evening going from 
Grand Portage, Lake Superior, to Isle 
Royal, twenty miles out in the lake. 
We started with a fair breeze, and our 
two boatmen assured us that we would 
have a short and pleasant run to the 

149 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

island. But when about half way over, 
the wind failed ; and calm, like the peace 
of God, was in the air and on the lake. 
Evening was coming on, and the only 
thing to do was to take the oars, if 
we did not wish to spend the night on 
the water. But it was slow work, even 
for the four of us, to row that heavy 
sailboat. The sun went down, leaving a 
great glory of red and gold on lake and 
sky that presently faded away, and 
darkness came on. Far away to the 
northeast a light gleamed in the dark- 
ness like a star; it was the light at 
Thunder Bay. 

" The boatmen began to worry. 
* We are right in the track of the big 
boats to and from Port Arthur/ they 
said, ' and we have no lights and may 
be run down at any time/ Here was 
cause to be anxious, indeed. Presently, 
one of the men said, ' If we can only 
get inside the Rock of Ages, we '11 be 
all right/ 

150 



ROCK OF AGES 

" ' Rock of Ages? ' my friend and I 
both asked; 'what is it and where is 
it?' 

" ' It is a big rock three miles west of 
Washington Harbour, on the island. 
The big boats all keep outside of it/ 

" We were silent for a time, the only 
sound being the noise of the oars in the 
rowlocks and in the water. And then 
my friend began to sing softly: 

" ' Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee.' 

" Suddenly one of the men said: 
' There it is; we 're all right now! ' By 
looking closely, I could make out in the 
darkness, on the right, a darker spot. 
The boatmen said it was the rock, and 
that we were now safe. 

" ' What is that verse/ said my 
friend, * in Isaiah about the Rock of 
Ages? Trust ye in Jehovah forever: 
for in Jehovah, even Jehovah, is a Rock 
of Ages. We have had a fine illustra- 

151 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

tion of that text. Outside that rock 
yonder we were in constant danger; in 
here, we are in perfect safety, and get- 
ting nearer the harbour every moment. 
So we are safe or unsafe as we trust or 
distrust our Rock of Ages.' " 

The Rev. Edwin M. Rice, D.D., 
Editor of the American Sunday-school 
Union, has this interesting statement 
to make concerning the school attended 
by Toplady: " Several of the hymn- 
writers of the widest fame and popu- 
larity in the past century or two have 
been educated at one institution — the 
Westminster School, England, chiefly 
St. Peter's College, Westminster. That 
sweet singer, George Herbert, entered 
the school as a ' King's scholar ' in 1604. 
The famous author of ' Jesus, Lover of 
My Soul,' Charles Wesley, entered the 
school in 1721, as a ' Town boy/ and 
became captain of the school in 1725. 
The author of ' Rock of Ages/ A. M. 
Toplady, was a scholar there in 1756. 

152 



BOCK OF AGES 

John Austin, who in his youth wrote 
' Hark, My Soul/ was in the same 
school in 1640. The great poet laure- 
ate, John Dryden, carved his name on 
a form there when a lad, the name and 
form being still carefully preserved. 
But the more durable impression was 
made when he wrote, c Creator, Spirit 
By Whose Aid/ The author of ' God 
moves in a mysterious way, 5 William 
Cowper, was also a student here. Bap- 
tist W. Noel, Joseph Anstice, G. E. 
Cotton, Gerald Phillimore, William 
Waterfield, and others, who have made 
helpful contributions to hymnology, 
have attended this school; indeed, so 
many writers of hymns have attended 
St. Peter's College that it has been 
called a ' School of Hymn-writers/ and 
it well deserves the name." 



153 



VIII 

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS 
OUR GOD 



3 migbtp fortress te our (Sob, 

& bultoarfe nebcr failing ; 
®uv belper J|e amib tfje f loob 

©f mortal ills prevailing : 
Jf or still our ancient foe 
3Botb Seek to toork us tooe ; 
J^iflS craft anb potoer are great, 
3nb, armeb toitb cruel bate, 

®n eartb is not Ijis equal 

3&ib toe in our oton strength conf ibe, 
©ur striding tooulb be losing ; 

UHere not tfje rigfjt iWan on our iibt f 
Wot iWan of (gob's oton choosing ; 

Bost asfe tofjo tijat map be ? 

Cfjrist HTesus, it is He! 

Horb £>abaotb W* name, 

Jfrom age to age tlje same ; 
anb He must \mn tfje battle. 

Snb tijougb tbis toorlb, toitb bebils filleb, 
g>boulb tbreaten to unbo us ; 

Wit toill not fear, for <§ob fjati) toilleb 
Hi* trutb to triumpb tbrougb us ; 

Cbe prince of barfeness grim, — 

Wit tremble not for bim; 

Hi* rage toe can enbure, 

Jf or lo ! bis boom i^ Sure, 
®nt little toorb sball fell bim. 

157 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

tTOfjat toorb abobe all eartfjlp potoers, 
35o tbanfes to tfjem, abibetf) ; 

Cbe Spirit anb tfte gifts; are ours, 
Sijrougfj ©tm tofjo toitl) us Sibetf) ; 

Het goobs anb feinbreb go, 

®fris mortal life also ; 

W&t bob? tbep map bill: 

<©ob'S trutb attbetlj Still, 
His feingbom ii f oreber. 



158 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS 
OUR GOD 




HE world knows Martin 
Luther as a reformer; 
comparatively few know 
him as a musician and 
hymnologist. 
Destined to give to the German 
people, in their own tongue, the Bible, 
the Catechism, and the hymn-book, he 
was born of peasant parents in Eis- 
leben, at the foot of the Hartz Moun- 
tains, Saxony, November 10, 1483, and 
died in the same town February 18, 
1546, in the sixty-third year of his age. 
He was possessed of a sweet voice of 
much compass and power, and in his 
youth followed, through necessity, a 
well-known German custom of singing 
songs and carols from door to door. 
" I used to beg," he writes, " with my 
companions, for a little food, that we 
might have the means of providing for 

159 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

our wants. At the time the Church cele- 
brates the festival of Christ's nativity, 
we went wandering through the neigh- 
bouring villages, going from house to 
house, and singing, in four parts, the 
carols of the infant Jesus." 

He was a lover of birds and flowers, 
and was passionately fond of music, 
folklore, and song. He was fortunate 
enough to become a member of the 
church choir and thereby gained tui- 
tion in music free. Years afterward, 
he wrote: " I place music next to the- 
ology. I can see why David and all 
the saints put their diviner thoughts in 
song." 

A woman of some means, hearing 
him sing, gave him a home and finally 
made it possible for him, in 1501, to 
enter the University of Erfurt, where 
he excelled in Latin, eloquence, and 
poetry. At the age of twenty-two he 
was made doctor of philosophy, much 
to the gratification of his fellow stu- 

160 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

dents, who celebrated the event by a 
great torchlight procession. 

He became an Augustinian monk 
in 1505, and a priest in 1507. The 
following year he was appointed a 
professor in the University of Witten- 
berg. He was a preacher of rare power 
and eloquence, and many were attracted 
to him. He became deeply interested 
in congregational singing. " I wish," 
he said, " after the example of the 
prophets and the ancient fathers of the 
Church, to compose German Psalms for 
the people. I mean sacred hymns, so 
that the Word of God may dwell 
among the people also by means of 
song." Of the hymns that then existed, 
nearly all were in Latin. Some of these 
he translated and altered. He also 
wrote original ones. 

Philip Schaff says: "The Psalter 
was the first and for many centuries 
the only hymn-book of the Church. It 
is the most fruitful source of Christian 

11 161 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

hymnology." As is well known, the 
46th Psalm furnished Luther with the 
keynote of his matchless hymn, " A 
Mighty Fortress Is Our God." He 
published his first hymn-book in 1524. 
It contained but eight compositions, 
four of which were his own. From this 
humble source have flowed the thousands 
of song books which since have been 
published throughout the world. With- 
in twenty years after the first edition 
was issued, at least one hundred and 
seventeen collections by him and his 
associates had been printed. 

One writes: " Luther was what to- 
day would be described as a profound 
connoisseur in music, and at the same 
time a practical musician. To his nat- 
ural musical gifts, and these were of a 
rich order, we must add an erudite 
and philosophical culture, an extensive 
knowledge of men and things, and 
above all a large heart and the inventive 
perception of a genius. It was this 

162 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

universal knowledge that enabled Lu- 
ther to enter into the high mission of 
art more thoroughly than the average 
musician." 

Heinrich Heine says : " Not less re- 
markable, not less significant than his 
prose writings, are Luther's poems, 
those stirring songs which escaped from 
him in the very midst of his combats and 
his necessities, like a flower making its 
way from between rough stones, or a 
sunbeam gleaming mid dark clouds." 
While Samuel Taylor Coleridge writes : 
" In Germany the hymns are known by 
heart by every peasant; they advise, 
they argue from the hymns, and every 
soul in the Church praises God like a 
Christian, with words which are natural 
and yet sacred to his mind." 

Along the same line, Cardinal 
Thomas-a-Jesu wrote in the sixteenth 
century: " The interests of Luther are 
furthered, in an extraordinary degree, 
by the singing of his hymns by people 

163 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

of every class, not only in the schools 
and churches, but in dwellings and 
shops, in markets, streets and fields." 

As an illustration of the wonderful 
power of Luther's hymns over the 
German mind, a writer gives this inci- 
dent in connection with the city of Han- 
over: " It appears," he says, " that the 
Reformaton was first introduced there, 
not by the voice of the preacher, nor by 
the reading of religious treatises, but 
by the hymns of Martin Luther. These 
the people sang with delight, and the 
saving truths they taught touched their 
hearts." 

By means of wandering school- 
masters, mechanics, and the students 
who attended Wittenberg, these hymns 
became widely scattered and were en- 
thusiastically received. Spangenberg, 
who was living at this time, says: 
" One must certainly let this be true 
and remain true, that among all the 
master singers, from the days of the 

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A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

apostles until now, Luther is and always 
will be the best and most accomplished." 

Luther wrote some thirty-seven 
hymns and Psalm revisions, and these 
have been translated into many lan- 
guages. His masterpiece, however, was 
" A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," the 
great battle-hymn of the Reforma- 
tion, which is as dear to the German 
heart as the Fatherland itself, each 
being inseparably associated with the 
other. 

In times of special trial, Luther 
would say to Melancthon: "Come, 
Philip, let us sing the 46th Psalm," and 
they would sing it from his version. 
After Luther's death, Melancthon 
heard a little girl singing the hymn in 
a street of Weimar, and said to her: 
" Sing on, dear child; you do little know r 
whom you comfort." 

It is said that this hymn accomplished 
as much for the Reformation as did the 
translation of the Bible. D'Aubigne 

165 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

says that during these fateful and for- 
mative days, " it was sung in all the 
churches of Saxony, and its energetic 
strains often revived and inspirited the 
most dejected hearts." It was sung at 
Luther's funeral, and its first line is 
carved on his tomb. 

In 1720, a remarkable revival was 
being held in a Moravian town, in which 
David Nitschman, who was afterward 
the founder of Bethlehem, Pennsyl- 
vania, lived. A large company was 
gathered at his house when the officers 
of the law broke in to disperse the 
meeting. Nothing daunted, the congre- 
gation began singing " A Mighty Fort- 
ress." Many, including Nitschman, 
were arrested and placed in jail. He 
made his escape, became a bishop, and 
sailed with the Wesleys on their famous 
voyage to Savannah, Georgia. He of- 
ficiated, in 1736, at what was the first 
ordination of a Protestant bishop in 
America. He visited America three 

166 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

times, and finally died here after years 
of splendid service for others. 

The hymn was a source of much 
comfort to the Huguenots of France 
between 1560 and 1572, and was fre- 
quently sung by them to inspire their 
zeal and courage. It was first pub- 
lished about 1527, and has been trans- 
lated at least eighty times, doubtless 
the most accurate being the version of 
Thomas Carlisle, in 1831. That of Dr. 
Frederick Henry Hedge, of Harvard 
University, in 1853, beginning, 

" A mighty fortress is our God," 

is the most popular in use in this 
country. 

Dr. Louis F. Benson, in his " Studies 
of Familiar Hymns," has this excellent 
summing up of the widespread use and 
influence of this immortal composition: 

" Such a hymn, with such a tune, 
spread quickly, as may well be believed; 
' quickly, as if the angels had been the 

167 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

carriers,' one enthusiastic writer has 
said. But they were men and not angels 
who spread Luther's hymn of faith 
and courage from heart to heart and 
from lip to lip. It thrilled them like a 
trumpet blast, encouraging the faint- 
hearted and nerving the brave to fight 
the battle of the Lord. It was, as Heine 
said, the Marseillaise of the Reforma- 
tion. It was sung at Augsburg during 
the Diet, and in all the churches of Sax- 
ony, often against the protest of the 
priest. It was sung in the streets ; and, 
so heard, comforted the hearts of Me- 
lancthon, Jonas, and Cruciger, as they 
entered Weimar, when banished from 
Wittenberg in 1547. It was sung by 
poor Protestant emigrants on their way 
into exile, and by martyrs at their death. 
It is woven into the web of the history 
of Reformation times, and it became 
the true national hymn of Protestant 
Germany. Gustavus Adolphus ordered 
it sung by his army before the battle of 

168 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

Leipzig, in 1631, and on the field of that 
battle it was repeated, more than two 
centuries afterwards, by the throng as- 
sembled at the jubilee of the Gustavus 
Adolphus Association. Again, it was 
the battle hymn of his army at Liitzen, 
in 1632, in which the King was slain, 
but his army won the victory. It has 
had a part in countless celebrations com- 
memorating the men and events of the 
Reformation; and its first line is en- 
graved on the base of Luther's monu- 
ment at Wittenberg. And it is still 
dear to the German people, one of the 
hymns lodged in their memories and 
hearts, ready for the occasion. An im- 
perishable hymn! not polished and ar- 
tistically wrought, but rugged and 
strong like Luther himself, whose very 
words seem like deeds." 

Percy S. Foster writes : " One of the 
most inspiring sights I ever witnessed 
was at the Christian Endeavor Con- 
vention in Cincinnati, Ohio, July, 1901, 

169 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

when the German societies sang, in their 
own language, as their consecration 
hymn, ' A Mighty Fortress Is Our 
God.' It thrilled the entire assem- 
blage as nothing else did." 

" Whenever I hear Luther's great 
hymn," said the Rev. Wallace Howe 
Lee, LL.D., of Seattle, Washington, 
" I always think of a soldier armed for 
the fray, riding on a fiery horse in tri- 
umph." And in much the same spirit 
another writes : " I learned this hymn 
while in the seminary, and liked it from 
the first. It stirs me like a drum stirs 
an old soldier. It is a hymn of trium- 
phant faith and should be sung 
oftener." 

W. T. Stead gives this interesting 
incident: " CasselTs History of the 
Franco-German war describes how, the 
day after the battle of Sedan, a multi- 
tude of German troops, who were on 
the march for Paris, found it impossible 
to sleep, wearied though they were. 

170 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

They were billeted in the parish church 
of Augecourt. The excitement of the 
day had been too great ; the memory of 
the bloody fight and their fallen com- 
rades mingled strangely with pride of 
victory and the knowledge that they had 
rescued their country from the foe. 
Suddenly in the twilight and the still- 
ness a strain of melody proceeded from 
the organ — at first softly, very softly, 
and then with ever-increasing force — 
the grand old hymn-tune, familiar to 
every German ear, ' Nun danket alle 
Gott/ swelled along the vaulted aisles. 
With one voice officers and men joined 
in the holy strains ; and when the hymn 
was ended, the performer, a simple 
villager, came forward and delivered 
a short, simple, heartfelt speech. Then 
turning again to the organ, he struck 
up Luther's old hymn, * Ein f este 
Burg ist unser Gott/ and again all 
joined with heart and voice. The ter- 
rible strain on their systems, which had 

171 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

tried their weary souls and had ban- 
ished slumber from their eyes, was now 
removed, and they laid themselves down 
with thankful hearts and sought and 
found the rest they so much needed." 

" In connection with Luther's great 
hymn," remarked Professor Charles It. 
Erdman, D.D., of Princeton Theo- 
logical Seminary, " I cannot forget 
the inspiring effect with which it was 
rendered by a great chorus of male 
voices at Princeton University on the 
occasion of the four hundredth anniver- 
sary of Luther's birth. Ever since then 
it has been increasingly popular with 
Princeton students, and I think I can 
safely say that it is the favourite hymn 
in that University." 

/The following interesting story is 
copied from the Youth's Companion: 
" At a terrible accident in the coal mines 
near Scranton, Pennsylvania, several 
men were buried for three days and all 
efforts to rescue them had proved un- 
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A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

successful. The majority of the miners 
were Germans. They were in a state of 
intense excitement, caused by sympathy 
for the wives and children of the buried 
men and, despair at their own balked 
efforts. 

" A great mob of ignorant men and 
women assembled at the mouth of the 
mine on the evening of the third day, 
in a condition of high nervous tension 
which fitted them for any mad act. A 
sullen murmur arose that it was folly to 
dig farther, that the men were dead; 
and this was followed by cries of rage 
at the rich mine owners, who were in no 
way responsible for the accident. 

" A hasty word or gesture might have 
produced an outbreak of fury. Stand- 
ing near was a little German girl, per- 
haps eleven years old. Her pale face 
and frightened glances from side to side 
showed that she fully understood the 
danger of the moment. Suddenly, with 
a great effort, she began to sing in a 

173 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

hoarse whisper which could not be 
heard. Then she gained courage, and 
her sweet, childish voice rang out in 
Luther's grand old hymn, familiar to 
every German from his cradle: 

" 6 A mighty fortress is our God.' 

" There was a silence like death. 
Then one voice joined the girl's, and 
presently another and another, until 
from the whole great multitude rose the 
solemn words of the hymn. A great 
quiet seemed to fall upon the hearts of 
all. They resumed their work with 
fresh zeal, and before morning the joy- 
ful cry came up from the pit that the 
men were found — alive." 

When the four hundredth anniver- 
sary of the birth of Luther was cele- 
brated in the Philadelphia Academy of 
Music, the great building was thronged, 
and "A Mighty Fortress," led by an 
immense band, was sung in seven dif- 
ferent languages at the same time. It 

174 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

was, of course, a perfect babel of sound, 
but the effect was wonderful. So 
grandly was it sung, with such match- 
less harmony, unity, and solemnity, that 
it stirred the vast audience to tears and 
to the utmost pitch of enthusiasm. To 
those who were present it is little wonder 
that the hymn bore an important part in 
nerving the German soldiers to deeds of 
desperate daring, when sung on the eve 
of battle ; or that it should be used as a 
great thanksgiving psalm when the 
victory was won. 

" A little company of missionaries," 
writes the Reverend Charles G. Lewis, 
of the China Inland Mission, " in south- 
west China during the Boxer outrages 
of the summer of 1900, found them- 
selves in circumstances which led to a 
fuller and deeper appreciation of Lu- 
ther's noble hymn than they had ever 
had before. Situated two thousand 
miles inland, and seven days' journey 
from our nearest neighbours, we found 

175 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ourselves cut off from all communica- 
tion. After waiting for light and guid- 
ance, we attempted flight through the 
southern provinces, but only to discover, 
after journeying several days, that all 
roads in that direction were closed. Re- 
turning to our station, we determined 
to await the uncertainties of the 
situation rather than attempt further 
travelling. Knowing something of the 
fate of many of our brethren else- 
where, we realised full well what might 
be ours also. To flee seemed to run 
into certain danger; to sit still seemed 
as certainly to invite it. What to do 
was no easy thing to settle. It was 
during these days that Luther's hymn, 
'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God/ 
took on new meaning to us, and 
our hearts received fresh strength and 
courage as we realised, as never before, 
how the Lord's people in other days 
found in our God ' a mighty fortress * 
from every danger." 

176 



A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 

It will be remembered that the mis- 
sionaries in Paoutingfu, China, were 
not so fortunate as those of the Inland 
Mission, all of them being killed at their 
post. An impressive memorial service 
was held on the 23d of March, 1901, on 
the very spot in Paoutingfu where the 
tragedies of the preceding June had 
occurred. Among those present were 
German, French, and Chinese officials, 
and a fine German band belonging to 
the brigade. The services were of the 
most solemn and tender character, and 
nothing could have been more grandly 
impressive than the rendering of " A 
Mighty Fortress Is Our God." 

Kostlin has well written: " This 
hymn is Luther in song. It is pitched in 
the very key of the man. Rugged and 
majestic, trustful in God, and confi- 
dent, it was the defiant trumpet-blast of 
the Reformation, speaking out to the 
powers of the earth and under the earth, 
an all-conquering conviction of divine 

12 177 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

vocation and empowerment. The world 
has many sacred songs of exquisite ten- 
derness and unalterable trust, but this 
one of Luther's is matchless in its war- 
like tone, its rugged strength, and its 
inspiring ring." 

There is need of more of such inspir- 
ing productions, full-voiced with faith, 
devotion, and courage, to help us in our 
efforts to " make our manhood mightier 
day by day." 



178 



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NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 






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FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

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182 




NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

flLIZA and Sarah Flower 
were gifted English sis- 
ters, whose early lives 
began and ended between 
the opening and the close 
of the first half of the last century; and 
yet in that brief period both left their 
impress on their generation; and the 
younger, Sarah, achieved undying 
fame by composing the beautiful hymn, 
" Nearer, my God, to Thee." 

The meeting and courtship of their 
parents were romantic. Benjamin 
Flower was a bright young fellow 
whose business frequently called him 
to France, and he became early imbued 
with the spirit of the French Revolu- 
tion. Afterward he became the Editor 
of the Cambridge Intelligencer, and 
for defending in its columns the French 
Revolution, and for real or imaginary 
reflections on the English constitution, 

183 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

he was brought to trial in 1799, and 
was sentenced to pay a fine and to spend 
six months in the famous or infamous 
Newgate Prison. 

During his imprisonment Miss Eliza 
Gould, an enthusiastic young woman 
of culture, whose soul was fired with 
indignation at the injustice of his pun- 
ishment, called upon him to express 
sympathy. They proved to be con- 
genial spirits; the strangers became 
friends, the friends lovers, and soon 
after his release they were married. 
Two daughters were born to them, and 
in 1810 the mother, never strong, went 
to her reward. The training and edu- 
cation of the children devolved upon 
the father, and right nobly did he meet 
this added responsibility. Both girls 
were unusually talented — Eliza as a 
composer of music, and Sarah as a 
composer of verse. 

In 1834, Sarah married William 
Bridges Adams, a civil engineer. In 

184 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

person she was tall and remarkably 
beautiful, and her manners were charm- 
ing. Believing that the stage might be 
made to perform an important service, 
in connection with the pulpit, in elevat- 
ing mankind, she essayed to act, with 
the approval of her husband, the char- 
acter of Lady Macbeth. Although 
she met with considerable success, she 
soon learned that the demands were far 
too severe for her physical powers, so 
she turned her attention to literature. 
She wrote a number of poems of rare 
sweetness and power. " Nearer, my 
God, to Thee," suggested by the story 
of Jacob's vision at Bethel, as found 
in Genesis 28 : 10-22, was first pub- 
lished in 1841; and although it met 
with some favour, it was not until 1860 
that Dr. Lowell Mason's beautiful and 
sympathetic music " quickened it into 
glorious life " and gave it a perma- 
nent abiding-place in the hearts of the 
people. In the great Peace Jubilee, 

185 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

held in Boston in 1872, this hymn was 
sung by nearly fifty thousand voices. 
Dr. Mason, then in his eighty-first year, 
was present, and was delighted with 
the matchless melody. He died the 
following August. 

Mrs. Adams died in 1848, at the age 
of forty-three, two years after the 
death of her sister Eliza, who died 
unmarried, at the same age. 

Many and interesting are the stories 
told in connection with the usefulness 
of this hymn, which has been an inspira- 
tion wherever the Christian religion has 
gone. It is a special favourite of Miss 
Helen Gould, whose sweet winsome- 
ness and noble charity have made her 
one of the best loved women of our 
land,. 

It was sung at the great Christian 
Endeavor Convention held in Phila- 
delphia in December, 1900, a choir of 
fifteen hundred trained voices, under 
the magnetic direction of H, C. Lin- 

186 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

coin, leading the vast multitude. At its 
close President Eberman said, thought- 
fully, " I wonder if we shall ever listen 
to such singing on earth again! " 

" When the officers and men of the 
North Atlantic Squadron," writes 
Chaplain Wright, " assembled on the 
quarter deck of the battleship ' Massa- 
chusetts,' at the memorial service for 
the gun's crew killed in the eight-inch 
turret, the most touching incident was 
the singing, softly and reverently, of 
1 Nearer, my God, to Thee.' It had 
been the favourite hymn of several of 
the dead men, and the last one they had 
sung, for we had closed the service with 
it two nights before the disaster. Dur- 
ing an experience of nearly twenty 
years in the Navy I have found the 
songs that last the best with the men S 
are such as ' Just As I Am,' c Abide 
With Me,' ' Nearer, my God, to Thee,' 
and ' Sun of My Soul.' " 

" I have heard," writes Dr. Floyd 

187 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Tomkins, " ' Nearer, my God, to Thee ' 
sung in camp with a brass band, and 
I have sung it alone with trembling 
voice when kneeling by the bedside of 
the dying, and it has ever the same 
message of peace." 

The Rev. Millard F. Troxell, D.D., 
relates this experience: "The beau- 
tiful August day was warm with sun- 
shine along the lower levels, but the 
three train-loads of tourists found the 
summit of Pike's Peak enveloped in 
mist and cloud too heavy to peer 
through, so that for an hour or more 
we gathered about the fire of the block- 
house and tried to become better ac- 
quainted. It was suggested that we 
sing some popular melody. A voice 
bravely began one of the many senti- 
mental songs of the day, but few knew 
enough of it to join in, so the singer 
was left to finish it alone. Then some 
one began to sing softly ' Nearer, my 
God, to Thee,' and before the second 

188 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

line was ended it seemed as if all who 
had been strangers now felt at home; 
and, for the time being, the place 
seemed like a very Bethel. It seemed, 
too, as if the clouds were parted and 
lifted by the singing, for when a little 
time had quickly passed, some one ex- 
claimed, ' Oh, there 's the sunshine ! ' 
and out we rushed to find that the 
mists were rolled away, and before us 
stretched the most wonderful of views." 
On one occasion three distinguished 
travellers in Palestine heard in the dis- 
tance faint snatches of a familiar tune, 
and were deeply touched, on drawing 
nearer, to find a group of Syrian stu- 
dents reverently singing, in Arabic, 
" Nearer, my God, to Thee." One of 
the hearers, in relating the story, said 
that the singing of the hymn by these 
youthful natives moved him to tears 
and affected him more deeply than any- 
thing of the kind to which he had ever 
listened. 

189 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

The Rev. G. B. F. Hallock, D.D., 
thus writes of his visit to Bethel on 
March 12, 1902: "As we stood there, 
where heaven had once come so near to 
earth, I am sure that there was not one 
in all our large party who did not share, 
in some degree, in that ladder vision 
which Jacob had; and you will not be 
surprised to know that we fell into the 
mood of Mrs. Sarah Flower Adams' 
ever-precious hymn, and, without a 
word of suggestion, sang together, with 
deepest feeling, c Nearer, my God, to 
Thee ! ' Who can say that Jacob's 
vision did not become ours as we softly 
chanted the trustful, prayerful words! 

"Is it not a sweet immortality for 
this Christian poetess that her song 
should thus linger about the Holy 
Land, the stories of which were so dear 
to her, and continue to interpret the 
worshipful thoughts of Christian trav- 
ellers long after she herself ceased to 
sing on earth? We do not wonder that 

190 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

our martyred President [McKinley] 
and so many before him and since, loved 
and do love this beautiful hymn. We 
shall ever count it a rare privilege that 
so many of us were permitted to sing 
it together on the sacred site of Bethel 
itself." 

A pathetic story in connection with 
this hymn is told of an heroic woman 
whose train was caught in the great 
Johnstown flood of 1889. Hopelessly 
imprisoned by the rising waters, and 
with death surely approaching, she 
breathed a prayer to her Maker, and 
then, with a voice of marvellous trust- 
fulness, began singing " Nearer, my 
God, to Thee," while hundreds, unable 
to help her, listened breathlessly. Be- 
fore the last words of the hymn were 
reached the brave voice was still and 
the singer had gone to be with " those 
who had come out of great tribulation 
and had washed their robes and made 
them white in the blood of the Lamb." 

191 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Dr. William H. Clagett, President 
of the Board of Trustees of the Texas 
Presbyterian University, kindly con- 
tributes the following: "On a New 
Year's Day the late Rev. James H. 
Brookes, D.D., of St. Louis, was ear- 
nestly praying for a deeper work of 
grace in his own heart, and during his 
prayer quoted the lines: 

" ' Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee, 
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me.' 

" As he uttered the words, the spirit 
of God brought the meaning of the 
last line to his mind as never before; 
so much so, indeed, that he stopped in 
his praying and asked, ' Do I so deeply 
desire a greater consecration that I am 
willing for God to send a cross, if it be 
necessary, for me to receive it? ' 

" After an inner struggle of some 
minutes he again bowed down, and, 
with a full sense of the meaning of 
the words he uttered, made use of the 

193 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

same quotation as expressing the inner- 
most desire of his heart. 

" That year there came to him one 
of the greatest sorrows of his life 
through the death of a daughter, a 
bright and beautiful girl just about to 
graduate from college; but he after- 
wards testified that through this great 
loss God had answered his prayer 
and had brought him into closer com- 
munion with Him than he had ever 
been before/' 

Chaplain Henry C. McCook, who 
was with our soldiers in Cuba, says: 
" It would seem strange that such a 
hymn as ' Nearer, my God, to Thee ' 
should be the most popular and appar- 
ently the most widely known among all 
classes of soldiers. Yet it is so. When 
conducting services as Chaplain in the 
camps and hospitals of the Fifth Army 
Corps, and upon ships of war and trans- 
ports, as well as in the camps of the 
States, I found that when this hymn 

13 196 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

was announced all the soldiers took 
hearty part in the singing. One would 
hardly think that the high spiritual note 
touched in this familiar hymn, which 
breathes longings for a nearer spiritual 
communion with God, even at the cost 
of human sacrifice, would truly voice 
the sentiment of the rough-and-ready, 
ofttime coarse and profane men who 
joined with their more religious com- 
rades in singing. Yet such was the 
case. It was the favourite hymn at 
funerals, a fact that can be understood 
more easily. All soldiers are more or 
less affected by the sense of the near 
presence of death. The loss of their 
comrades is indeed ' a cross ' ; and in the 
true spirit of camaraderie they feel a 
touch of woe that the companions of 
the tent and of the march, who shared 
with them the toils and perils of battle, 
have passed away." 

He also gives this interesting descrip- 
tion of the closing scene on the battle-^ 

194 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

field of Las Guasimas, June, 1898: 
" Farther on lay a dead Spaniard with 
covered face. A buzzard flapped from 
the tree above him. Bevond was the 
open-air hospital, where were two more 
rigid human figures, and where the 
wounded lay. That night there was a 
clear sky, a quarter-moon, and an en- 
veloping mist of stars, but little sleep 
for any, and restless, battle-haunted 
sleep for all. Next morning followed 
the burial. Captain Capron was car- 
ried back to the coast and buried at 
Siboney. The other heroes were placed 
side by side in one broad trench with 
their feet to the east. In the bottom 
of the grave was laid a layer of long, 
thick, green leaves of guinea grass, and 
over the brave fellows were piled plumes 
of the royal palm as long as the grave. 
At the head of the trench stood Chap- 
lain Brown; around it were the com- 
rades of the dead; along the road 
struggled a band of patient, ragged 

195 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Cubans; and approaching from San- 
tiago a band of starving women and 
children for whom the soldiers gave 
their lives. ' Nearer, my God, to Thee/ 
sang the soldiers; and the tragedy of 
Las Guasimas was done." 

This noble hymn gained additional 
popularity through the tragic death 
of President William McKinley. His 
last intelligible words, spoken just 
before his soul took its flight, were: 
" Nearer, my God, to Thee, e'en though 
it be a cross, has been my constant 
prayer." His prayer was answered. It 
was a cross — one of the greatest that 
could come to him and to the beloved 
nation which he had served so faith- 
fully — that led him through a martyr's 
suffering and death to claim a martyr's 
reward, that of being ever near the 
blessed Saviour. In a different way, 
the prayers of his countrymen were also 
answered, for although his life was 
not spared, there was infused into the 

196 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

hearts of all a profounder reverence 
for the head of the nation, a greater 
horror of assassination, a stronger love 
for our country, a deeper devotion to 
our political institutions, and a more 
abiding faith in God. 

The day of his burial at Canton, Sep- 
tember 19, 1901, witnessed the most 
singular and unanimous tributes of re- 
spect and affection ever paid to the 
memory of a human being. Seldom, if 
ever, has a common sorrow found out- 
ward expression in so many lands and in 
so many ways; and never was there so 
close an approach to church and inter- 
national unity. Memorial services were 
held in innumerable churches in our own 
and other countries; and at half -past 
three o'clock, through arrangements 
previously made, all the material ac- 
tivities of the country ceased, so far as 
possible, for five minutes. Trolley cars 
were motionless, the hum of machinery 
died away, horses were stopped, not a 

197 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

telegraph instrument clicked, and the 
great ocean cable no longer pulsed its 
messages. A Sabbath stillness was 
over all. Everywhere, as clocks and 
watches indicated the hour, men stood 
with uncovered and bowed heads asking 
God's blessing upon the stricken widow 
and upon their bereaved country. 

Before us as we write is a great met- 
ropolitan newspaper of the following 
day, its pages full of graphic descrip- 
tions of the funeral service at Canton, 
where the vast audience stood at the 
close, with tear-dimmed eyes, while 
" Nearer, my God, to Thee," was being 
sung; and of telegraphic despatches 
from the leading centres of the world, 
in almost all of which reference is made 
to the singing of this hymn in connec- 
tion with memorial services. 

Two of the despatches are of special 
interest: The first, from New York, 
dated September 19, is: " The 250 
passengers of the American Hamburg- 

198 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

American liner ' Belgravia,' from Ham- 
burg, which arrived this afternoon at 
Hoboken, as the clock struck 3 : 30, re- 
ceived the sorrowful intelligence of the 
President's death and funeral services. 
Instantly every one stopped and stood 
for five minutes with uncovered head. 
While the people waited, the band 
on the steamer ' Pennsylvania,' lying 
alongside, played Chopin's funeral 
march, and a quartet sang ' Nearer, 
my God, to Thee.' " 

The second despatch is from Kansas 
City, Mo. : " Twenty-five thousand peo- 
ple in the great auditorium this after- 
noon paid loving tribute to the memory 
of President McKinley. As many 
more were turned away. A chorus of 
seven hundred voices and a band of one 
hundred pieces furnished the music. 
The entire audience joined in the 
singing of * Lead, Kindly Light ' and 
' Nearer, my God, to Thee.' " 

In Philadelphia, the Academy of 

199 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Music was packed to its utmost capac- 
ity, and this hymn was sung with mar- 
vellous effect by the standing, weeping 
audience. At League Island, at Girard 
College, in Catholic and Protestant 
churches, in Jewish synagogues and 
Christian temples, the people were 
drawn together by a great heart sorrow, 
and gave expression to it by singing the 
hymn which so appropriately and fit- 
tingly set forth their feelings. On the 
still autumn air the beautiful notes of 
" Nearer, my God, to Thee " rang out 
with singular sweetness and distinct- 
ness from the chimes of the belfry of 
the historic Christ Church — the same 
bells which had sounded a muffled peal 
at the reception of the news of the 
British blockade of Boston; which had 
joyously echoed the brave full tones of 
the Liberty Bell when it proclaimed 
its story of liberty to the world; which 
had summoned Washington to worship 
when he was our first President; and 

V 200 



NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 

which had rung out their tribute of love 
and sorrow when Washington, Lincoln, 
and Garfield passed on to join the im- 
mortals — these chimes now made the 
air melodious with the tender notes of 
the deathless hymn ; and men, stopping 
to listen, went on their way with up- 
lifted looks, and with a fuller, deeper 
understanding of the inner spiritual 
teachings of the solemn words. 

In every civilised country memorial 
services were held, the most interesting, 
perhaps, being in Westminster Abbey, 
by order of the King. The burial ser- 
vice was read with touching simplicity 
in the presence of royalty, the full dip- 
lomatic corps, distinguished men and 
women, and a vast concourse of sor- 
rowing people. Here, as elsewhere, 
the greatest interest centred about the 
singing of the hymn which was in the 
heart and on the lips of our heroic 
President as he went to meet his God. 



901 



X 

ONWARD, CHRISTIAN 
SOLDIERS 



©ntoarb, Cbristian solbiers, 

illarcbing as to toar, 
Wliti) ttie cross of STesus 

(Soing on before : 
Cbrist, tbe ropal JWaster, 

Xeabs against tfje foe ; 
Jf ortoarb into battle, 

S>ee, W* banner* go, 

3tt tfje sign of triumph 

Satan's bost botb f lee ; 
®n tben, Cbristian solbiers, 

©n to bictorp : 
Hell'* founbations quiber 

St tfje Sbout of praise ; 
SSrotbers, lift pour boites, 

Houb pour antbems raise. 

Hike a migbtp arm? 

iflobes tbe Cburcb of <£ob ; 
Urotbers, toe are treabing 

Wiiftvt tbe saints babe trob ; 
©Be are not bibibeb, 

Sill one bobp toe, 
<&nt in bope anb boctrine, 

0nt in cbaritp. 

205 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Croton* anb tfjrone* map pertef), 

Irtngbom* visit anb toane, 
JSut tfje Cfmrcb of Sfesus 

Constant toil! remain ; 
<©ate* of fjell can neber 

Gainst tfjat Cfmrcb prebail ; 
We babe Cbrfet'S ohm promise, 

!3nb ttiat cannot fail 

©ntoarb, tfjen, pe people, 

SToin our bappp tbrong, 
JSlenb tottb ours; pour botce* 

3fn tbe triumpb=*ons ; 
<©lorp, laub anb bonour 

®nto Cfjrtet tbe Htng ; 
GH)te tfjrougb counties* age*, 

iflen anb angel* sing. 



906 




ONWARD, CHRISTIAN 
SOLDIERS 

NWARD, Christian Sol- 
diers " is without a peer 
as a processional hymn: 
and although originally 
written for children, it is 
none the less inspiring to " children of 
a larger growth." It easily ranks as 
one of the most popular of our modern 
hymns. " At meetings for general 
work," writes the Rev. Charles M. Bos- 
well, D.D., " like church extension, 
city mission movements, and similar 
enterprises, I know of no hymn that 
can approach it in arousing the ag- 
gressive and enthusiastic spirit of an 
audience." 

Fortunately, we have the author's 
own statement as to the origin of the 
hymn. A great school festival was to 
be held in a Yorkshire village on Whit- 
Monday, 1865, and the scholars of 

207 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Horbury Bridge school, over which the 
Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould was Curate, 
were invited to attend. As the place 
of the celebration was some distance 
away, the minister thought it would be 
an excellent plan to have his scholars 
march to the singing of an appropriate 
and stirring hymn. Fortunately for 
our hymnology, he could find nothing 
in his song books suitable for such an 
occasion, so from sheer necessity he sat 
down on the Saturday evening preced- 
ing the celebration and composed this 
great processional hymn, little dream- 
ing that he had produced that which 
would be world-wide in its usefulness 
and make his name a household word. 
" It was written," he modestly says, 
"in a very simple fashion, without a 
thought of publication. I wanted the 
children to sing when marching from 
one village to the other, but could not 
think of anything quite suitable, so I 
sat up at night resolved to write some- 

208 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

thing myself. ' Onward, Christian 
Soldiers ' was the result. It was written 
in great haste, and I am afraid that 
some of the lines are faulty. Certainly 
nothing has surprised me more than its 
great popularity." 

The spirited music written for it by 
Arthur S. Sullivan has doubtless added 
to the enthusiasm and heartiness with 
which it is always sung. 

While preparing this article, it was 
our good fortune to learn that a Mr. 
Thomas Taylor, a brother-in-law of 
Baring-Gould and a member of the 
choir which first sang the hymn, was 
living in Germantown, Pennsylvania. 
We had a pleasant interview with him, 
and found him to be a sympathetic, 
genial, middle-aged man, with quite 
a local reputation as a poet. He kindly 
gave the following interesting rem- 
iniscences of the first time the hymn 
was sung: 

"As I look back through the mists 

H 209 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

of more than forty long years, I see 
a little cottage church close by the banks 
of the Calder, a branch of the Hum- 
ber, in Yorkshire. It was here, in an 
upper room, in the early sixties, that 
Mr. Baring-Gould, a Curate from St. 
Peter's Church, used to hold services. 

" The cottage church soon became 
too small for the rapidly increasing 
congregation. In course of time a 
large mission church was built, and I, 
with two elder brothers, had the su- 
preme delight of being enrolled as 
members of the first surpliced choir. 

" I remember well how eagerly we 
boys looked forward to the great Whit- 
suntide festivals religiously kept in the 
Yorkshire parishes, and which were 
welcomed by all. 

"Whit-Monday, 1865, dawned bright 
and beautiful. Mr. Baring-Gould had 
arranged that we should march to the 
parent church, St. Peter's, about one 
and a half miles distant from Horbury 
no 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

Bridge, to celebrate the day. The road 
led up a very steep incline, known as 
Quarry Hill. With lusty voices and 
with banners floating in the breeze, we 
marched forward, a little army some 
one hundred strong, singing Mr. 
Baring-Gould's new hymn, ' Onward, 
Christian Soldiers.' It was on that 
country road and along the main street 
of Horbury village that the hymn was 
first sung in public. 

" Near the parish church we were 
met by the Horbury brass band and 
the scholars and choristers of St. 
Peter's, who joined in the singing as 
we filed into the church. After the 
service we all entered the vicarage gar- 
den, and there again the hymn was 
sung, under the leadership of Mr. 
Henry Wilson, then choirmaster at St. 
Peter's. 

" Soon after this event I joined the 
choir of St. Peter's. Years after, I 
married the daughter of my old choir- 

211 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

master, Mr. Wilson, and subsequently 
came across the great Atlantic to seek 
a home in the United States." 

Mr. Taylor added this interesting bit 
of family history: " I often wondered 
why it was that I was such a favourite 
of Mr. Baring-Gould; nor could I 
understand why it was that whenever 
he came to the house I was sent by my 
mother into the garden, or elsewhere, 
to play. But when my sister became 
Mrs. Baring-Gould a flood of light 
broke in upon my youthful mind, and 
I was able to comprehend why my 
absence had been so frequently desired; 
and I was also reluctantly led to believe 
that the Curate's affection for the little 
choir boy was not quite so disinter- 
ested as his personal vanity might have 
wished." 

Baring-Gould, a minister of the 
Church of England, was born in Ex- 
eter, Devonshire, January 28, 1834, 
and was graduated from Clare College, 

212 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

Cambridge, twenty years later. He 
was Curate of Horbury, where the 
hymn was written, from 1864 to 1867, 
and since 1881 has been Rector of Lew 
Trenchard, where he holds estates and 
privileges which have descended to him 
through his family. 

He is an authority on many subjects, 
and is a voluminous writer, having pub- 
lished nearly one hundred volumes. In 
twenty years, between 1870 and 1890, 
he issued no less than forty-three books, 
sixteen of which were novels. During 
the next six years he published seven- 
teen novels. A number of his works 
have passed through several editions. 
To show the extent and variety of his 
writings, it is only necessary to mention 
a few of the titles: The Lives of the 
Saints, in fifteen volumes ; Legends of 
the Old Testament; Curious Myths of 
the Middle Ages; Iceland: Its Scenes 
and Its Sagas; and The Vicar of Mor- 
wenstow. Among his novels are Meha- 

213 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

lahj In the Roar of the Sea, and Noemi. 
" He has," says J. M. Barrie, " power- 
ful imagination, and is quaintly fanci- 
ful. When he describes a storm, we can 
see his trees breaking in the gale. So 
enormous and accurate is his informa- 
tion that there is no trade or profession 
with which he does not seem familiar." 
This suggests to us the poet Thomas 
Gray, who was also a man of vast 
learning, not only in literature but 
in all the arts and sciences of his day; 
and although he left writings enough 
to form, with his life, a book of four 
volumes, edited by Edmund Gosse, 
it is by his one poem, " Elegy Writ- 
ten in a Country Churchyard," that 
he will be ever remembered. This 
may also prove true of Baring-Gould. 
The few lines hurriedly composed on 
a Saturday evening as a marching 
song for a band of little children, will 
doubtless give to his name greater fame 
than all the books he has ever written. 

214 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

" At morning prayers," writes Presi- 
dent S. W. Boardman, of Maryville 
College, Tennessee, " after the faculty 
and the more advanced classes are in 
their seats, from one to two hundred 
preparatory students march in, two 
abreast, from the south entry, and pass 
before the platform to their places. 
Most of them are from fifteen to 
twenty years old, and the majority are 
professed Christians. The stirring 
hymn, ' Onward, Christian Soldiers/ 
is frequently sung, but even when it is 
not, I never see the youthful, hurrying 
throng pressing forward to prepare for 
the future work of the Church and of 
the world, without feeling in my own 
heart the thrill and impulse of the 
words : 

" ' Onward, Christian soldiers. 
Marching as to war ! 9 

An unusual event, with which this 
hymn was associated, happened at the 

215 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

November, 1905, election in Philadel- 
phia. A desperate effort had been 
made during the preceding weeks by 
the citizens to free themselves from 
corrupt political methods and office 
holders. Excitement ran high, and on 
the night of the election the deepest 
concern was felt as to the issue. One 
of the papers the next morning gave 
this vivid picture of the happenings: 

" From this time forward, ' Onward, 
Christian Soldiers ' is the cheering song 
from which a redeemed city will draw 
its inspiration and continue the good 
work so well begun. 

" It was midnight last night when 
the new battle hymn was borne on a 
triumphant wave to the thousands of 
exulting citizens. Broad and Chestnut 
Streets were packed almost to suffo- 
cation. The crowds were delirious with 
joy when they heard the news of the 
Organisation's defeat. As soon as the 
Chairman of the City Party Campaign 

216 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

Committee was satisfied that the results 
were no longer in doubt, and when 
the returns showed a decided victory 
for the people, he hurriedly formed 
a procession, and, headed by a band, 
began a parade through Broad and 
Chestnut Streets. The first piece 
played by the band was ' Onward, 
Christian Soldiers,' and thereafter only 
one other song was permitted, ' My 
Country, 'T is of Thee/ 

" When the crowds heard Baring- 
Gould's stirring melody many of them 
fell in line, and soon thousands were 
singing the words of the inspiring 
chorus. On Broad Street thousands of 
others joined in the singing; and for 
the first time in many years an election 
crowd knew what it was to be inspired 
by the true spirit of victory." 

A certain Low Church Vicar, we are 
told, was thoroughly opposed to all 
outward symbolisms. On one occa- 
sion, the children of his school were to 

217 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

march in procession, and " Onward, 
Christian Soldiers " was the hymn 
selected to be sung. To add to the 
realism, the choirmaster desired to have 
a cross carried in front of the little 
company, but this the good Vicar pos- 
itively refused to permit. Wishing to 
have the hymn as literally true as pos- 
sible, and possibly to " get even " with 
the Vicar, the choirmaster changed the 
last line of the first stanza, and the chil- 
dren started off, lustily singing, 

" Onward, Christian soldiers, 
Marching as to war, 
With the cross of Jesus 
Left behind the door." 

Another amusing story is told in a 
letter received from the Rev. Robert J. 
Drummond, of Edinburgh, Scotland: 
"A little boy I know, three years of 
age, was marching around the table, 
singing this hymn at the top of his 
voice. His father said to him, ' Are 
you a Christian soldier?' 'No, Brit- 

218 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

ish!' was the unexpected and senten- 
tious reply, as the little chap continued 
his march, singing more lustily than 
ever. This was when the Boer war was 
at its height, and loyalty and patriot- 
ism among the children were running 
high." 

When peace was expected to be de- 
clared between the British and the 
Boers, a Chaplain telegraphed to Lord 
Kitchener from the Orange River Col- 
ony, stating, " I am the acting Chap- 
lain, and shall conduct divine service 
in several camps to-morrow. May I 
ask if the hymn, ' Peace, Perfect 
Peace/ would not be a most appro- 
priate one to sing?" "Please your- 
self," telegraphed Kitchener; "but I 
think ' Onward, Christian Soldiers ' 
quite as good at this time and perhaps 
more appropriate." 

Miss Anna Woodruff Jones, a 
youthful and enthusiastic missionary, 
thus writes from Osaka, Japan, in 

219 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

April, 1904: "I spent last Saturday- 
down at the harbour watching hun- 
dreds of Japanese soldiers embarking 
on several large transports to go to the 
seat of war. We occupied the place 
allotted to Christians on the wide har- 
bour road down which marched the 
soldiers, healthy, strong, and deter- 
mined-looking. I took my two silk 
United States flags, and I waved one 
and a friend the other. The Japanese 
flag has no blue in it, and as we held 
ours high up they were very conspic- 
uous. The soldiers were evidently 
pleased, and many of the officers 
saluted. One of our missionaries had 
brought his cornet, and with its help we 
sang most heartily ' Onward, Christian 
Soldiers,' the object being to cheer the 
Christian Japanese whom we knew to 
be in the ranks. Tears came to our eyes 
as we saw one Christian after another 
raise his hand or give some other sign 
to let us know that he appreciated our 

220 




SANG MOST HEARTILY ONWARD,, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS, 
TO CHEER THE CHRISTIAN JAPANESE IN THE 

ranks."- Page 220. 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

being there and singing for him our 
song of encouragement; and with 
grateful looks he passed on." 

Above 300,000 people witnessed the 
great march of the Knights Templars 
of the Grand Commandery of Penn- 
sylvania on Broad Street, Philadelphia, 
May 26, 1903. The late Dr. Willard 
M. Rice gave the following vivid pen- 
picture of the inspiring event: 

" On the way down, it seemed only 
an ordinary parade, composed of alter- 
nate brass bands and commanderies ; 
and many, perhaps, of those who looked 
on were not a little disappointed. It 
remained, however, for the counter- 
march to eclipse anything of the kind 
ever seen in this or possibly any other 
city. Reaching Reed Street, the entire 
line was reformed for the return march. 
The forty bands, aggregating 1,500 
musicians, were massed together in the 
lead, the hundreds of flags and their 
bearers being grouped immediately 

221 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

behind; and then, shoulder to shoulder, 
with locked step and stretching from 
curb to curb, with all the pride of the 
old crusaders and conscious of the 
centuries they represented, followed 
the five thousand splendidly attired 
knights, their waving plumes gleaming 
white in the sunlight, giving them the 
novel appearance of a moving snow- 
drift. It was a thrilling scene as 
the magnificent pageant swept tri- 
umphantly onward: the great band, 
with its resplendent and multicoloured 
uniforms; the glorious Stars and 
Stripes intermingled with the brilliant 
banners of the several commanderies ; 
the white-plumed knights with gold 
and silver sashes — all these united in 
forming a colour effect never to be 
forgotten. 

" But the best was yet to come: When 
the great band swept past the review- 
ing stands, the majestic strains of 
Baring-Gould's inspiring hymn, c On- 



ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

ward, Christian Soldiers,' rang out as 
though played by one man, yet with 
a volume of sound that could be heard 
for squares. Confined within the nar- 
row channel formed by the tall build- 
ings at Broad and Chestnut Streets, 
the matchless music, reflecting against 
the vaulted sky, reverberated again and 
again in the most exquisite harmony — 
a diapason of sweetest melody, a paean 
of praise to the Master, a direct and 
mighty call to all to engage in the great 
conflict between God and Satan, right- 
eousness and sin. 

" The effect on the vast multitude 
of onlookers was electrical. While some 
applauded in a delirium of joy, others, 
with deeper spiritual insight, and with 
tear-stained faces, caught the promise 
and the inspiration of the moment and 
sang the words of the glorious hymn 
with an intensity of feeling which the 
grandest of organs in the stateliest of 
churches could never call forth. It was 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

all over in less time than it takes to 
write about it, but the blessed benedic- 
tion will long remain, and men, women, 
and children will be the better because 
of those few moments of nearer ap- 
proach to the great All-Father through 
the inspiration of ' Onward, Christian 
Soldiers/ " 



m 



XI 

COME, THOU FOUNT OF 
EVERY BLESSING 



Come, Wfjau Jf ount of eberp blessing, 
Cune mp b*art to sing CbP grace ; 

Stream* of mercp, neber ceasing, 
Call for songs of loubest praise* 

Ceacf) me dome melobious sonnet, 
Smng bp flaming tongues abobe ; 

praise tfje mount ! 3 'm f ixeb upon it, 
jftlount of (gob's unchanging lobe ! 

Jlere 3 raise mp Cbenejer ; 

Jlitfjer bp <EbP fjelp 3 'm come ; 
&nb 3 bope, bp TO)? goob pleasure, 

£s>af elp to arribe at borne, 

STesus sought me toben a stranger, 
aSHanbering from tije f olb of <£ob ; 

J|e, to rescue me from banger, 
3nterposeb 7fa\& precious bloob. 

to grace fjoto great a bebtor 
©ail? 3 'm constraineb to be ! 

Het tbat grace noto, lifee a fetter, 
Jginb mp toanbering beart to tEbee. 

ffrone to toanber, Horb, 3 feel it; 

$rone to leabe tbe <§ob 3 lobe ; 
Jlere 's mp beart ; ® take anb seal iU 

S>eal it from Cbp courts abobe. 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF 
EVERY BLESSING 




HE career of the Rev. 
Robert Robinson, the 
author of this great re- 
vival hymn, was a re- 
markable one, and his 
character seems to be perfectly summed 
up in one of its phrases: "Prone to 
wander." He was a precocious boy, a 
barber's apprentice, a diligent student, 
a convert to Methodism, a farmer, an 
author, and a preacher. At different 
periods of his life he was connected 
with no less than four religious de- 
nominations, yet wandered in spirit- 
ual darkness at times, if we are to 
believe a story told by the Rev. S. W. 
Christophers : 

" One day, on one of the well-known 
roads, a lady had been for some time 
engaged over one page of a little book, 
which, in the course of the journey, she 

229 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

had occasionally consulted. Turning, 
at length, to her companion in travel, 
a gentleman from whose appearance 
she gathered that an appeal on such a 
question would not be disagreeable, she 
held the open page toward him, and 
said, ' May I ask your attention to this 
hymn, and ask you to favour me with 
your opinion of it? ' 

" Her companion glanced down the 
page, and seeing that the hymn was 
' Come, Thou Fount of Every Bless- 
ing,' made an attempt to excuse him- 
self from conversation on its merits; 
but the lady ventured on another 
appeal. 

" ' That hymn has given me so much 
pleasure,' she said; 'its sentiments so 
touch me; indeed, I cannot tell you 
how much good it has done me. Don't 
you think it very good? ' " 

" ' Madam,' said the stranger, burst- 
ing into tears, ' I am the poor, unhappy 
man who wrote that hymn many years 

230 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING 

ago, and I would give a thousand 
worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the 
feelings I then had.' " 

The inscription on his tombstone, 
however, prepared by his distinguished 
successor, Robert Hall, fittingly sets 
forth the esteem in which he was held, 
and encourages the thought that he was 
again brought into right relations with 
Christ before his death : 

M Sacred to the memory of the Rev. 
Robert Robinson, of Cambridge, the 
intrepid champion of Liberty, civil and 
religious; endowed with a genius bril- 
liant and penetrating, united with an 
indefatigable industry; his mind was 
richly furnished with an exhaustive 
variety of knowledge. His eloquence 
was the delight of every public as- 
sembly, and his conversation the charm 
of every private circle. In him the 
erudition of the scholar, the discrimi- 
nation of the historian, and the bold- 
ness of the reformer were united, 

931 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

in an eminent degree, with the vir- 
tues which adorn the man and the 
Christian." 

Robert Robinson, the son of a Scotch 
father and an English mother, both 
members of the Established Church, 
was born September 27, 1735, in Swaff- 
ham, Norfolkshire, England. He was 
a remarkably bright boy, and at the age 
of six was attending a Latin school. 
His father died when he was quite 
young, and his mother, left in almost 
destitute circumstances, was compelled 
to take boarders to keep her family 
together. After a time, the needs of 
the home made it imperative that the 
boy should seek employment, and at 
the age of fourteen he was apprenticed 
to a barber in London. This, however, 
did not dampen his desire for knowl- 
edge, and by rising early he was en- 
abled to devote a part of each day to 
self -improvement. 

His thoughts were first turned seri- 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING 

ously to spiritual matters by a singular 
incident. He was now seventeen, 
and was beginning to associate with 
dissolute young men. On one occa- 
sion he, with several of these com- 
panions, succeeded in loosening the 
tongue of a gypsy fortune-teller with 
drink, and she prophesied, among other 
things, that he would live to see his 
children and grandchildren. To his 
credit, be it said, this statement filled 
him with a desire to be, in a measure, at 
least, worthy of these prospective de- 
scendants ; and that very night he went 
to hear the famous George Whitefield 
preach, although evidently with not 
much hopes of good results, if we are 
to believe his confession made to White- 
field some time later, in which he said 
that he went disposed to " pity the poor, 
deluded Methodists; but had come 
away envious of their happiness." 
Whitefield was a powerful preacher, 
and in this instance, as frequently, his 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

experience was similar to that of the 
saintly parson described in Goldsmith's 
"Deserted Village": 

" Truth from his lips prevaiPd with double 
sway, 
And fools who came to scoff, remained to 
pray." 

Whitefield's sermon made a deep 
impression on young Robinson, and he 
became a constant attendant at these 
Methodist meetings; but it was not 
until " two years and seven months " 
afterward that he professed to being 
soundly converted. He kept a journal, 
and the entry describing this experience 
is, to say the least, both quaint and 
expressive. It gives the names of his 
parents, when and where he was born, 
when and under whom his spiritual 
birth began, and the length of time that 
elapsed before he was altogether con- 
verted. The entry is in Latin and 
makes interesting reading : 

" Robertus, Michaelis Mariaeque 

234 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING 

Robinson filius, Natus SwafFhami, 
comitatu Norfolcise, Saturni die, Sept. 
27, 1735. Renatus Sabbati die, Maii 
24, 1752, per predicationem Georgii 
Whitefield. Et gustatis doloribus reno- 
vationis duos annos mensesque septem, 
absolutionem plenam gratuitamque, 
per sanguinem pretiosum Jesu Christi, 
inveni (Tuesday, December 10th, 
1755), cui sit honor et gloria in secula 
secularum." 

He served as a barber until he was 
nineteen, and then went to Mildenhall 
with the intention of devoting himself 
to farming. Soon after he began to 
preach, and this he did with such vigour 
and acceptability that many were drawn 
to hear him from his own and other 
neighbourhoods. He married, and be- 
came the father of nine children. 

In 1758 he preached in Norfolk, but 
soon after he left the Methodist and 
formed an independent church. Then 
he became a Baptist, was ordained by 

235 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

that body in 1761, and accepted the 
charge of a church in Cambridge. The 
congregation to which he ministered 
was small, and at no time did he receive 
a salary greater than $450 per annum. 
His work here was very successful, and 
he gathered about him a flourishing 
congregation. He was an indefati- 
gable worker and an able preacher, and 
became very popular with the students 
of the University. In 1790 he made 
a visit to Birmingham, and one morn- 
ing — June 9th — was found dead in 
bed, at the age of fifty-five. 

Goodness as well as evil is conta- 
gious and far-reaching. Whitefield 
was the human means of Robinson's 
conversion; Robinson was the inspirer 
of Robert Hall's vast influence for 
good, and it was through Robert Hall 
that Charles H. Spurgeon was led to 
enter upon his career of splendid use- 
fulness. Through these men thousands 
have been led to a saving knowledge 

236 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING 

of the Master. We little realise the 
possibilities of a human life for help or 
for hindrance. 

Although fully engaged in his pas- 
toral duties, Robinson found time to 
accomplish much in a literary line, and 
prepared several volumes for publica- 
tion. His works were characterised by 
freshness and originality, and were 
widely circulated. He was an eloquent 
speaker, and Robert Hall said of him, 
" He could say what he pleased, when 
he pleased, and how he pleased." And 
another wrote, " For disentangling a 
subject from confusion, for the power 
of development, for genuine simplifi- 
cation, for invention — who ever sur- 
passed Robinson of Cambridge?" 

So far as known, he wrote only two 
or three hymns, and he is now chiefly 
remembered through being the author 
of "Come, Thou Fount of Every 
Blessing," a hymn which is a universal 
favourite and very popular and helpful 

237 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

in revival services, where it is frequently 
sung, and always with vigour and 
enthusiasm. 

Dr. A. H. Harshaw writes: "This 
is my favourite hymn. Of course, there 
are more perfect songs of worship, but 
the spirit of this one is very cheering to 
me. The mixture of thanksgiving and 
petition, and the revelation of the very 
heart of the gospel, endear it to all 
devout Christian souls." 

It is believed that " Come, Thou 
Fount of Every Blessing " was written 
in 1757, when the author was but 
twenty-two years of age, and shortly 
after the time of his full surrender to 
Christ, when he was able gratefully and 
prayerfully to exclaim: 

" Oh, to grace how great a debtor 
Daily I 'm constrained to be ! 
Let that grace now, like a fetter, 

Bind my wandering heart to Thee ! H 

The Rev. C. T. Schaeffer writes: 
" It was after eleven o'clock on an 

238 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING 

October night in 1902, that a father 
and son, who had been separated 
through some misunderstanding, met 
in the Chinese Mission, New York 
City. The place was crowded with the 
residents of the Chinese quarter and a 
few faithful Christian workers. As 
soon as the son recognised his father 
he angrily picked up a chair and at- 
tempted to strike him. Fortunately, 
the Superintendent was near, and 
springing in between held them apart 
while he gave out the hymn, ' Come, 
Thou Fount of Every Blessing.' 

" The prompt action of the Superin- 
tendent and the quieting effect of the 
sacred song had their helpful influence 
over the two men, who sat with bowed 
heads until the singing was ended and 
the meeting was over; and then, with 
one accord, they clasped hands and were 
reconciled. The anger and bitterness 
of years were blotted out and forgiven, 
and they went out into the darkness 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

together, rejoicing in their God- given 
happiness." 

A writer in The Boston Journal thus 
describes a visit he made during the 
Civil War to the rooms of the Chris- 
tian Commission in Fredericksburg: 

" Passing through the rooms," he 
says, " I gained the grounds in the 
rear — a beautiful garden once, not 
unattractive now. The air was redo- 
lent with roses and locust-blossoms. 
Fifty men were gathered round a sum- 
mer house — sympathetic men, who 
had been all day in the hospital. Their 
hearts had been wrung by scenes of 
suffering. They had given out food 
for body and soul, and cups of water 
in the name of Christ. They were tired 
now, and thinking of home and quiet 
scenes. They were of different faiths 
and from widely separated States. One 
man, who knew how to strike a har- 
monious chord, broke into singing, — 

" ' Come, Thou Fount of every blessing. 5 

240 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING 

" Everywhere from the shadows and 
the shrubbery rose the music of that 
hymn from men who were in memory 
in the home church or at the home fire- 
side, and who joined in this familiar 
hymn and were one in Christ Jesus. It 
was a night scene to be remembered. 
And then one led in prayer and alluded 
to the garden scene in Gethsemane. 
The angel sent to strengthen these 
brave men in their dark hour was the 
angel of song, and it floated in on the 
wings of this hymn, which was asso- 
ciated with every man's home life and 
religious experience/ ' 

On a warm night of summer, a 
young man, with his face betraying 
marks of dissipation and with the un- 
comfortable feeling that his present 
course was making a wreck of his life, 
passed slowly and thoughtfully down 
a quiet village street. He was in a 
receptive mood, and impressions made 
now would be lasting. The pleasant 

16 241 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

breeze, the flood of glorious moonlight, 
and the solemn stars were making their 
strong demand on his manhood to assert 
itself. Their silent appeal might have 
been in vain, but at that fitting moment 
there fell on his ear from a neighbour- 
ing balcony, embowered in leaves, the 
full, rich voice of a young girl singing; 
and as he passed the house he could dis- 
tinctly hear the words: 

" Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
Wandering from the fold of God; 
He, to rescue me from danger, 
Interposed His precious blood." 

He had heard the hymn often before, 
and was perfectly familiar with these 
lines; but they came to him now with 
a new and a powerful personal appeal. 
Try as he would to prevent it, the sweet, 
song-laden voice haunted him, and the 
words kept repeating themselves again 
and again in his memory. Before he 
slept he manfully faced, in the presence 
of his Saviour, the great question of 

242 




ft ^ 
ft feX) 

o 

a 
ft 

A 
p 

a 

o 
ft 






o 



o 

H 

S 



COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING 

his soul's salvation, and won the vic- 
tory. " The peace that passeth under- 
standing " came to him, and he nobly- 
resolved that henceforward his life 
should be devoted to higher aims and 
to holier purposes. Filled with happi- 
ness and sweet content he went to rest, 
his last waking thought being 

" Here 5 s my heart : O take and seal it, 
Seal it from Thy courts above." 



243 



XII 

STAND UP, STAND UP FOR 
JESUS 



&tanb up, gtanb up for Sfz&u&l 

ge couriers; of tfje cro&S; 
3Uft fngi) ©t* ropal banner, 

3ft mu*t not buffer lo#s. 
Jf rom bictorp unto fatctorp 

J|ia arm? %e sfjall leab 
QKll eberp foe ts banqutefj'b, 

&nb Christ id Horb inbeeb. 

£>tanb up, stanb up for STesuai 

Cfje solemn toatcfctoorb tear ; 
M tofrile pe gleep J|e buffer*, 

&toap tottf) stfjame aub fear ; 
^Jjere'er pe meet toitf) etoil, 

^ttfjtn pou or tottfjout, 
Cfjarge for tfje <@ob of Settles, 

8nbput tfje foe to rout! 

fetanb up, *tanb up for 3t&ui I 

W$t trumpet call obep ; 
Jf ortf) to tfje migfjtp conflict, 

3fo tfjte W* glorious bap* 
" §?e tfjat are men noto aerbe JHm," 

Sgatugt unnumber'b foe* ; 
Het courage rtee tottfj banger, 

&nb gtrengtfj to strengtfj oppose, 

24.7 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

g>tanb up, stanb up for 3esus ! 

g>tanb in W* Strengtfj alone ; 
®fje arm of f lesb toill fail pou, 

§?e bare not trust pour ohm, 
JJut on tije (gospel armour, 

Cat?) piece put on tottf) praper; 
&bere but? calls, or banger, 

Jgt neber touting tijere t 

&tanb up, stanb up for 3esus ! 

€acb solbier to ftis; post ; 
Close up tfte broken column, 

&nb sbout tfjrougb all tfje bost ! 
itlafee goob tfje loss so beabp, 

3Jn tljose tftat still remain, 
&nb probe to all arounb pou 

©bat beat!) itself is gaint 

&tanb up, stanb up for STesust 

Wyt strife toill not be long ; 
TEijiS bap tfje noise of battle, 

Wf)t next tbe bictor'S song* 
®o bim tbat obercometb, 

& croton of life sball be ; 
5|e toitb tbe &ing of <£lorp 

febaU reign eternaUp ! 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR 
JESUS 




OD, who, to save a lost 
world, spared not His 
own beloved Son, some- 
times leads His earthly 
children through deep 
waters in order that others, through 
their sufferings, may be brought to a 
saving knowledge of Him. Blessed 
are we if we have the spiritual insight 
to discern the Father love hidden be- 
hind the hand that chastens ; and thrice 
blessed are we if we can, at such times, 
imitate the disciples of old, who went 
on their way " rejoicing that they were 
counted worthy to suffer shame for His 
name." 

Cowper's oft-quoted lines, 

" God moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform," 

never had more singular verification 
than in the pathetic chain of circum- 

249 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

stances which gave to America one 
of its most popular and soul-stirring 
hymns, " Stand up, Stand up for 
Jesus." In its martial and inspirational 
character it strikingly suggests the 
great English processional hymn, " On- 
ward, Christian Soldiers." The two are 
also similar in that both were composed 
at a single sitting to fill a temporary 
need — one, as a marching song to 
grace a holiday for a group of English 
school children; the other, to give em- 
phasis, at the close of a sermon, to the 
dying word$ of a brilliant young Ameri- 
can minister, who passed from earth in 
the flood-tide of his fame and useful- 
ness. The Church at large was in need 
of, and had waited long for, just such 
inspiring battle calls to kindle the mar- 
tial spirit in loyal Christian hearts ; and 
both hymns are destined to abide for- 
ever in our books of spiritual song. 
Although each was born in a night, and 
in the closing half of the nineteenth 

250 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 

century, yet each has happily caught 
and expressed the indomitable spirit 
which has made our Church militant 
the great power it has been throughout 
the ages. It is eminently fitting that 
these important additions to hymnol- 
ogy should be contributed by two of 
the greatest Christian nations of the 
world. 

A pathetic and abiding interest at- 
taches to the origin of the American 
hymn. The Rev. Dudley A. Tyng was 
a bright young Episcopalian rector, 
who had been obliged to sever his pas- 
toral relations with the Church of the 
Epiphany, Philadelphia, on account of 
his outspoken views on the curse of 
slavery; and had, in 1857, organised 
the Church of the Covenant. 

He was singularly gifted, even as a 
boy. At the age of six he was able to 
read intelligently Latin authors, and 
about this time was given a hand- 
some copy of Virgil because of his 

251 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WOULD 

ability to read the Mantuan bard. At 
fourteen he entered the University of 
Pennsylvania, from which institution 
he was graduated at eighteen with 
distinguished honours. 

As a minister, he early attracted at- 
tention by his eloquence, his deep spir- 
ituality, and his beautiful simplicity of 
character. " His spirit of Christian 
liberality shone out in all his sermons 
and public addresses; and it was not 
difficult to discover that the subject held 
dearest to his heart — save only the 
conversion of souls — was to see a more 
fraternal spirit cultivated among all 
denominations of Christians. Deep in 
his convictions of the truth and fulness 
of the Gospel of the Saviour; honest 
and steadfast in their profession; elo- 
quent and earnest in their avowal; it 
was his delight and glory to preach 
them everywhere, and always in their 
simplicity and power. Gentle in feel- 
ing, calm in temper, patient under op- 

252 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 

position, he preserved an equanimity of 
manner which won for him the admira- 
tion and love of thousands. Honouring 
his Master in life, he glorified Him in 
death by testifying to the power of 
grace in giving him perfect peace, a 
certainty of immortality, and of eternal 
life." 

Such was Dudley Tyng, the beloved 
of all who knew him. Dr. Robert Ellis 
Thompson writes : " The first Sunday 
I was in America, April, 1857, my old- 
est brother took me to the National 
Hall on Market Street, to hear a gifted 
young clergyman, who had been driven 
from his church (Epiphany) for speak- 
ing out against slavery. Although 
only a boy at the time, I was impressed 
by the earnestness and simplicity of 
Dudley Tyng. I afterwards heard 
him described as one of the saintliest 
men in our city's ministry/' 

Mr. Tyng was prominently identi- 
fied with the Young Men's Christian 

253 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Association, and was one of the leaders 
in the great revival of 1857-58, known 
far and wide as " The Work of God in 
Philadelphia." 

On the 30th of March, 1858, at the 
noonday meeting in Jayne's Hall, he 
preached a powerful sermon from the 
text, " Go now, ye that are men, and 
serve the Lord." The sermon was Pen- 
tecostal in its effects upon the five 
thousand men who listened to it, and at 
least one-fifth of them, it is said, de- 
clared their intention to lead a Christian 
life. Perhaps no discourse of modern 
times was ever followed by so many 
conversions. 

Two weeks later, Tuesday, April 
13th, he was in his country home, 
" Brookfield," near Conshohocken, 
Pennsylvania, and left his study to 
pay a brief visit to the barn to inspect 
a corn-shelling machine that was being 
operated by mule power. He paused 
to say a kindly word to the animal 

254 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 

and to pat him on the head; as he 
did so, the sleeve of his gown became 
caught in the machinery, and before he 
could be released his right arm was fear- 
fully lacerated; indeed, it was almost 
torn from his body. 

As an illustration of how little atten- 
tion was given in those days by the 
papers to gathering important news 
items, it is only necessary to state that 
although the distinguished preacher was 
injured on Tuesday, April 13th, the 
first mention of it in the daily Ledger 
was on Friday, the 16th, and then the 
entire incident was passed over in eight 
brief lines. On the following Monday, 
the 19th, a seven-line paragraph in the 
same paper stated that Mr. Tyng's arm 
had been amputated on the previous 
Saturday, close to the shoulder; and 
that during the operation the patient 
had been placed under the influence of 
chloroform. On Tuesday, the 20th, 
there appeared a fourteen-line state- 

966 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ment of his death, which had occurred 
on the previous afternoon; and a short 
review of the dreadful accident. 

The news of Mr. Tyng's death was 
received with many manifestations of 
grief; and long before three o'clock on 
the afternoon of April 22d, the time 
fixed for his funeral, the building on 
Chestnut Street in which the service 
was to be held was crowded, " while 
around the doors were thousands 
anxious but unable to obtain a place 
within." 

Ministers representing every evan- 
gelical denomination were seated on 
the platform, and several of them made 
brief addresses. The entire service was 
unusually impressive and tender, and 
was a splendid tribute to the worth of 
the saintly young minister. On his 
coffin plate were the dates : 

" Born, January 12th, 1825. 
Died, April 19th, 1858." 

156 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOE JESUS 

We have gone into details thus par- 
ticularly in order to correct a number 
of errors which we have seen in print 
concerning 1 the events here narrated. 1 

The last hours of Mr. Tyng were 
touching in the extreme. On the morn- 
ing of his death, after a long night of 
exhaustive suffering, he said, " Sing! 
sing! Can you not sing!" Then he 
himself began " Rock of Ages." His 
father, the Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, 
D.D., writes: "We followed him, and 
we sang together the first two verses, 

1 The following are some of the errors of statement 
made in connection with the death of Mr. Tyng : 

" Though not yet thirty years old." 

"On Sunday, April 16th, he preached at a union 
service held in Jayne's Hall, at which five thousand 
people were present." The 16th of April, 1858, came 
on Friday, and on that day Mr. Tyng was slowly dying 
of his wound. 

" In the hope of saving his life, three amputations 
were made." 

" Dr. Duffield composed the following popular hymn 
to be sung after his sermon." 

And even Dr. Duffield himself, writing in 1883, with 
a quarter of a century separating him from the tragic 
death of his friend, states : " His arm was torn out by 
th$ roots. His death occurred in a few hours." 
17 957 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

but he could sing no more, no more 
could we — sorrow silenced us all." 

Among his last intelligible words 
were, " Now, father dear, kiss me once 
more." And as his father bent with 
a breaking heart over his boy and 
kissed him, he said, " Good night, dear 
father-" 

Just a little while before he passed 
into the shadow that opens on the eter- 
nal dawn, his father asked him if he had 
any word for the young men, and for 
the ministers who had been so closely 
associated with him in the great revival 
work. " Not now," he said; " I am too 
much exhausted"; but after a little 
while he continued, " Now, father, I 
am ready. Tell them, ' Let us all stand 
up for Jesus.' " 

This was the dying message of one 
of the truest souls that ever throbbed 
responsive to the love of the Master; 
and it was this dying message which on 
the inspired wings of poesy has been 

9& 




"NOW, FATHER, I AM READY, TELL THEM, *LET US ALL 

stand up for jesus/ " — Page 258. 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 

a clarion call to duty and faithfulness 
wherever Christianity is known. Dud- 
ley Tyng's last exhortation was caught 
up by his friend, Dr. George Duffield, 
and immortalised in his fine hymn, 
" Stand up, Stand up for Jesus." On 
the Sunday succeeding Mr. Tyng's 
death, Dr. Duffield preached a ser- 
mon from Ephesians 6 : 14, — " Stand, 
therefore, having your loins girt about 
with truth, and having on the breast- 
plate of righteousness." He composed 
the words of the now famous hymn as 
a closing and effective plea to this dis- 
course, little dreaming that these verses 
would make his name better known and 
longer remembered than all his other 
works. 

Dr. Duffield speaks of Mr. Tyng as 
" one of the noblest, bravest, manliest 
men I ever met." 

" The Superintendent of the Sunday- 
school," wrote Dr. Duffield, "had a 
fly leaf of the hymn printed for the 

969 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

children. A stray copy found its way 
into a Baptist paper, and from that 
paper it has gone in English, and in 
German and Latin translations, all over 
the world. The first time the author 
heard it sung outside of his own denom- 
ination was in 1864, as the favourite 
song of the Christian soldiers of the 
Army of the James. . . . Notwith- 
standing the many mutilations and 
alterations and perversions to which 
this hymn has been subjected, it is but 
proper to say that since the night it was 
written, it has never been altered by the 
author in a single verse, a single line, 
or a single word; and it is his earnest 
wish that it shall continue unaltered 
until the Soldiers of the Cross shall re- 
place it by something better." The 
copy of the hymn accompanying this 
chapter is as Dr. Duffield originally 
composed it. 

Again Dr. Duffield writes : " There 
is one pleasure I have enjoyed in hymns 

960 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 

which is somewhat personal and of its 
own kind. On three different occasions 
— once in the General Assembly at 
Brooklyn, once at a meeting of the 
A. B. C. F. M., and once at a mass- 
meeting of Sunday-schools in Illinois, 
when outward and inward troubles met, 
and I was in great and sore affliction — 
I have entered the church and found 
that the great congregation was sing- 
ing ' Stand up, Stand up for Jesus.' 

" The feeling of comfort was inex- 
pressible, to have my own hymn thus 
sung to me by those unaware of my 
presence. It was as though an angel 
strengthened me." 

It is interesting to know that Dr. 
Duffield long kept on the wall of his 
study a cob of corn from the barn floor 
where Mr. Tyng received his mortal 
wound. 

Some one has written: " Strange that 
a short hymn, struck off in an hour or 
two as a fitting peroration to a funeral 

261 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

sermon on a young minister who had 
come to a tragic end, should be so hon- 
oured as to cast all the other works of 
the author into the shade. What are 
all his efforts compared to this martial 
song so hastily written, so strangely 
born? When all his sermons shall have 
been forgotten and the walls of the 
churches to which he so faithfully min- 
istered shall have fallen, this noble lyric, 
written in the white heat of a grand 
elate hour, will still be a power in the 
land, because fragrant with the name 
of Dudley Tyng, and still more with 
that Name which is above every name 
in Heaven or on earth." 

Dr. George Duffield was born of dis- 
tinguished ancestry. His great-grand- 
father, Dr. George Duffield, was the 
pastor of the historic Third Presby- 
terian Church, Philadelphia, during the 
Revolution, and his patriotism was so 
pronounced that a price was set upon 
his head by the British. One of his first 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 

churches was protected on all sides by 
fortifications, and during divine service 
sentinels kept watch against hostile 
Indians. " He was literally a man 
of war from his youth. He was 
quite as much at home at the head 
of a company of riflemen, protect- 
ing the homes of the settlers, as he 
was in drawing his apt and vivid 
illustrations in the pulpit." Of the 
one hundred and ten signers to his 
call to the Third Church, Philadelphia, 
sixty-seven served in the Revolutionary 
War. Upon a certain Sabbath, it is 
said, he ascended his pulpit, and look- 
ing over the congregation, exclaimed: 
" There are too many men here this 
morning; I am going to the front!" 
His splendid service to the cause of 
patriotism is a matter of history, and 
is too well known to need repetition 
here. 

It will thus be seen that George 
Duffield, the author of our hymn, had 

263 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

martial blood in his veins, which well 
fitted him to write a stirring battle call. 
He was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
in 1818; was graduated from Yale Col- 
lege in 1837, and from Union Theologi- 
cal Seminary three years later. His 
first pastorate was over the Fifth Pres- 
byterian Church, Brooklyn, where he 
remained seven years, after which he 
spent four years in charge of the First 
Church, Bloomfield, New Jersey. In 
1851 he assumed pastoral care over the 
Northern Liberties Central Church, 
Philadelphia, where he remained until 
1861, when he resigned and subse- 
quently had successive pastorates in 
Adrian, Michigan, Galesburg, Illinois, 
and Saginaw, Michigan. He died in 
Bloomfield, New Jersey, July 16th, 
1888. 

Dr. Charles E. Bronson, of Phila- 
delphia, thus writes of him: "Dr. 
Duffield was a predecessor of mine in 
Saginaw. He was a man solid in char- 

264 



STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 

acter, learned, and held in profound 
respect by the entire community. He 
left an abiding mark on the ideals and 
life of the whole vicinity. He was a 
man of fervent piety. His whole fam- 
ily were highly gifted, and have left 
their mark on every department of life 
in which they have toiled." 

The loyal devotion, dauntless cour- 
age, and sublime optimism of Dr. 
Duffield's great hymn find their fitting 
culmination in the inspiring declaration 
of faith with which it ends : 

" To him that overcometh, 
A crown of life shall be ; 
He with the King of Glory 
Shall reign eternally ! " 



XIII 

THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 
FILLED WITH BLOOD 



Z\)tvt fe a fountain I iUeb tottf) bloob 
33raton from (Emmanuel's being ; 

9nb sinners, plungeb beneatf) tftat floob, 
Hose aU tfjeir guiltp stains, 

C&e bping tfnef rejoiceb to gee 

{TOfjat fountain in fris bap ; 
&nb tfjere fjabe 3, a* bile a* fje, 

^asfjeb all mp sins atoap. 

©ear byins Hamb, Cijp precious bloob 

g>fjall neber lose its potoer 
QKU aU tlje ransomeb Cfjurtfj of <©ob 

?@e sabeb, to xin no more. 

C'er since, bp faitfj, 3 Sato tfje stream 

tCijp f lotoing toounbs supplp, 
3Rebeeming lobe fja£ been mp tijeme, 

&nb sfjall be ttU 3 bie» 

tEfjen in a nobler, stoeeter song, 

3 'U sing ®fjp potoer to sabe, 
Wfytn tfjts poor limping, stammering tongue 

Uteg silent in tfie grabe. 




WILLIAM COWPER, AUTHOR OF THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

filled with blood. " — Page 270. 




THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 
FILLED WITH BLOOD 

ITERATURE fur- 
nishes few stories more 
pathetic than that of 
William Cowper, whose 
great revival hymn, 
"There Is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood," has led many immortal souls 
to a saving knowledge of the Master, 
and has been world-wide in its hallowed 
and blessed influences. 

The Rev. S. W. Christophers thus 
writes: "Unhappy, and yet happy 
Cowper! Who does not weep over his 
sorrows? Who does not bless Heaven 
for his genius, his devotion, and his 
works? . . . With a fancy ever fresh, 
a poetic genius as pure and clear as the 
morning, and amidst all his fears, with 
a heart most tenderly alive to good, and 
most warmly devoted to his Redeemer, 
he graced his friend Newton's Olney 

271 



FAMOUS HYMNS OP THE WORLD 

Hymn-book with many a precious 
gem." 

William Cowper was the son of the 
Rev. John Cowper, D.D., Rector of 
the Parish of Great Berkhampstead in 
Hertfordshire, England, where the 
poet was born November 26, 1731. 

His mother, to whom he was singu- 
larly devoted, was a beautiful Christian 
character. She held her boy the dearer 
because he was her only surviving child. 
Marion Harland gives us this tender 
glimpse of mother and son: " Her own 
hands would wrap him in his scarlet 
cloak, and settle upon his sunny head 
the velvet cap that arrayed him for his 
first day at school. Other mothers' eyes 
moisten in contemplating the group at 
the Rectory door. The small delicately 
featured face of the child alight with 
gleeful pride in the ' bauble coach * 
built for his express use; the yearning 
smile, more sad than tears, in the sweet 
eyes bent downward upon her boy, as 

272 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

both bade farewell to the babyhood he 
left behind in his trial-trip into the wide, 
cold world ; the ' Gardener Robin/ dele- 
gated to draw the young master to the 
1 dame-school/ consequential in the 
sense of the trust reposed in him. 
There is nothing more common than 
the scene in our changeful, working- 
day world, and not many things more 
beautiful." 

This ideal relation was destined to be 
all too short. Two days before the 
petted child reached the close of his 
sixth year his mother died. His grief 
over his irreparable loss was almost 
boundless. When he was fifty-six years 
old, and his mother had been in her 
grave for half a century, a cousin sent 
him her miniature. He wrote this 
touching acknowledgment: "I had 
rather possess my mother's picture than 
the richest jewel in the British crown; 
for I loved her with an affection that 
her death, fifty years since, has not in 

18 273 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

the least abated." Again he writes: 
" I can truly say that not a week passes 
(perhaps I might with equal veracity 
say a day) in which I do not think of 
her." 

We read with intense indignation 
that " At six years of age this little 
mass of timid and quivering sensibil- 
ity was, in accordance with the cruel 
custom of the time, sent to a large 
boarding-school," where the boys of the 
advanced classes tyrannised over the 
younger scholars, and " whipped the 
little fellows into the most servile fags." 
The heart-broken and motherless boy, 
because of his extreme sensitiveness and 
the loving care which had crowned his 
earlier years, underwent mental and 
physical suffering such as rarely comes 
to a life so young. 

Of this period he afterwards wrote: 
"My chief affliction consisted in my 
being singled out from all the other 
boys, by a lad of almost fifteen years, 

274 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

as a proper object upon whom he might 
loose the cruelty of his temper. . . . 
His savage treatment of me impressed 
me with such dread of his figure upon 
my mind, that I now remember of be- 
ing afraid to lift my eyes upon him 
higher than to his knees, and that I 
knew him better by his shoe-buckles 
than by any other part of his dress." 

He was, at the age of ten, sent to 
Westminster School, where the condi- 
tions were scarcely better than at Dr. 
Pitman's. Doubtless his wretched ex- 
periences at school, together with his 
grief over his mother's death, were the 
foundation of the melancholy and de- 
pression of spirit which clouded so 
much of his after life. 

On leaving school he studied law, 
and while thus engaged fell deeply in 
love with his cousin, who returned his 
affection; but they were not permitted 
to wed, the father objecting on account 
of the close relationship. Both re- 

275 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

mained true to their early dream of 
happiness and never married. This 
great heart disappointment also had its 
disquieting effect upon Cowper's mind. 
The dread shadows of insanity, which 
on more than one occasion prompted 
him to suicide, began to envelop him; 
and although they lifted now and then, 
and reason was temporarily enthroned, 
yet 

" Melancholy marked him for her own." 

In 1763 he was placed in a private 
asylum, from which, after a stay of 
eighteen months, he was discharged 
and pronounced to be restored. 

Soon after leaving the asylum he met 
Mrs. Unwin, the " Mary " of his poems, 
who became his most devoted friend 
and comforter. We are told that " she 
watched over the mad poet with the 
utmost care and tenderness; dispelled 
the gloom of oft-recurring madness, 
cheered him in moments of melancholy 

276 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

despair, guarded his health, and di- 
rected his tremulous thoughts in the 
paths of literature. It is to her strong 
affection and untiring care that we owe 
the works of Cowper." 

After the death of the Rev. Mr. 
Unwin, who was killed by a fall from 
his horse in 1767, Mrs. Unwin, with her 
son and daughter, and Cowper, on the 
advice of the Rev. John Newton, re- 
moved to Olney, on the Ouse, where 
Newton was Curate. 

The poet became deeply interested 
in religious work. " Acting as a sub- 
curate to Newton, he spent much of 
the day in attendance upon sick cot- 
tagers. . . . He, whom the presence 
of strangers silenced and made awk- 
ward, trampled diffidence under his 
feet, and led prayer-meetings, exhort- 
ing and engaging in audible petitions 
in the name of his hearers." 

Newton thus writes of him: "In 
humility, simplicity, and devotedness 

277 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

to God, in the clearness of his views of 
evangelical truth, the strength and 
comfort he obtained from them, and 
the uniform and beautiful example by 
which he adorned them, I thought he 
had but few equals. He was eminently 
a blessing, both to me and to my people, 
by his advice, his conduct, and his 
prayers. The Lord, who had brought 
us together, so knit our hearts and 
affections that for nearly twelve years 
we were seldom separated for twelve 
hours at a time, when we were awake 
and at home. The first six I passed in 
daily admiring and trying to imitate 
him; during the second six, I walked 
pensively with him in the valley of the 
shadow of death." 

Taking such active part in public 
religious services proved too much for 
Cowper's overwrought temperament, 
and he had a return of insanity. Re- 
covering, "he turned his attention to 
gardening, carpentering, and taming 

278 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

hares. He constructed a tiny summer 
house on the lawn in the garden, and at 
six o'clock on summer mornings he 
would be found busily writing there, 
stopping now and then to listen to the 
feathered songsters or to smell a fra- 
grant flower near by," 

He now turned his thoughts more 
seriously to literature, and was privi- 
leged to enjoy a few years of sweet 
content, clouded now and then by a 
return of his dreadful malady, which 
was slowly but surely throwing its pall 
over him. It was a sad time in the dis- 
tressed household when Mrs. Unwin 
was stricken with paralysis, which af- 
fected her mind. Cowper sank into one 
of his most despondent moods, and paid 
no attention to anything. Could any 
picture be more touching than this: 
" One morning Mrs. Unwin was made 
to understand that her friend needed 
rousing, and was told by the attending 
physician to ask him to walk with her. 

279 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

True to the habit of attendance prac- 
tised for years, she beckoned him to 
lead her to the door. Immediately he 
rose, placed her arm in his, and walked 
out. Thus, for the last time, she had 
unconsciously rescued him from the 
brink of insanity." 

He survived his friend only a few 
years, during which time he had occa- 
sional gleams of sanity. He died 
quietly on the 25th of April, 1800, in 
the sixty-ninth year of his age, and was 
buried in St. Edmund's Chapel, St. 
Nicholas Church, East Dereham. 

Marion Harland writes : " Mr. John- 
son has left on record a sentence that 
falls upon our hearts like the calm of a 
summer sunset after a day of hurrying 
clouds, sobbing gusts, and wild rains: 
' From that moment, till the coffin was 
closed, the expression into which his 
countenance had settled was that of 
calmness and composure, mingled, as it 
were, with holy surprise/ 

280 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

" May we not believe, and thank God 
for the fancy, that the sweet mother 
who had so long had all her other 
children with her in Heaven was gra- 
ciously permitted to bear this ' afflicted 
soul, tossed with tempest, and not com- 
forted,' the tidings that he was a par- 
taker in the ' unspeakable happiness ' 
he had despaired of attaining. Did the 
welcome to the joy of the Lord he had 
never ceased to love while he believed 
himself shut out forever from His pres- 
ence, awaken the • holy surprise ' which 
brought back youth and comeliness to 
the face marred by the awful and mys- 
terious sorrow, as fearsome as it is in- 
comprehensible to us? " 

Strange as it may seem, in view of 
his mental disorder, " Cowper's poetry 
is eminently healthy, natural, and un- 
affected. He and Burns brought back 
nature to English poetry. Besides 
being a poet, he was, perhaps, the most 
delightful letter-writer in the English 

281 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

language. Nothing could surpass the 
charm of his epistles — full of humour, 
gentle sarcasm, anecdote, acute re- 
mark, and a tender shadow of melan- 
choly thrown over and toning down the 
whole." 

He is described as being " one of the 
loveliest and most accomplished Chris- 
tian gentlemen of his age." Southey 
speaks of his being " the most popular 
poet of his generation " ; and Stopf ord 
Brooke writes of him as the poet " who 
has written, to my mind, the noblest 
hymns for depth of religious feeling 
and for loveliness of quiet style ; whose 
life was as blameless as the water lilies 
which he loved." " The perfect struc- 
ture of his sentences," writes Marion 
Harland, " the aptness of his imagery, 
the simplicity and force of his diction, 
have made him a classic, and a model 
to students who would also be scholars." 

Mrs. Browning's beautiful poem, en- 
titled " Cowper's Grave," is known to 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

all lovers of verse. We give a portion 
of it: 

" It is a place where poets crowned may feel 

the heart's decaying; 
It is a place where happy saints may weep 

amid their praying ; 
Yet let the grief and humbleness as low as 

silence languish: 
Earth surely now may give her calm to 

whom she gave her anguish. 

" O poets, from a maniac's tongue was poured 
the deathless singing! 

O Christians, at your cross of hope a hope- 
less hand was clinging ! 

O men, this man in brotherhood your weary 
paths beguiling, 

Groaned inly while he taught you peace, and 
died while ye were smiling! 

" And now, what time ye all may read through 
dimming tears his story, 
How discord on the music fell and darkness 

on the glory, 
And how when, one by one, sweet sounds 

and wandering lights departed, 
He wore no less a loving face because so 
broken-hearted. 
283 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" With quiet sadness and no gloom, I learn 
to think upon him, 
With meekness that is gratefulness to God 

whose Heaven hath won him, 
Who suffered once the madness-cloud to 

His own love to blind him, 
But gently led the blind along where breath 
and bird could find him ; 

" And wrought within his shattered brain 
such quick poetic senses 

As hills have language for, and stars, har- 
monious influences: 

The pulse of dew upon the grass kept his 
within its number, 

And silent shadows from the trees refreshed 
him like a slumber. 

"Wild timid hares were drawn from woods 

to share his home-caresses, 
Uplooking to his human eyes with sylvan 

tendernesses : 
The very world, by God's constraint, from 

falsehood's ways removing, 
Its women and its men became, beside him, 

true and loving. 

" And though, in blindness, he remained un- 
conscious of that guiding, 
And things provided came without the sweet 
sense of providing, 

284 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

He testified this solemn truth, while phrensy 

desolated, — 
Nor man nor nature satisfies whom only 
God created." 

While living at Olney, Mr. Newton 
proposed to Cowper that he should join 
him in the preparation of a book of 
evangelical hymns. The poet was 
pleased to be of this help to his friend, 
and contributed sixty-seven of the 
famous " Olney Hymns," as they are 
called. These have since been trans- 
lated into many languages. 

" God Moves in a Mysterious Way " 
was one of these hymns, and was writ- 
ten at the close of 1772, "in the 
twilight of departing reason/' almost 
immediately after Cowper had made 
an effort to end his life. 

" There Is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood," written about the same time, 
is a hymn which is endeared to thou- 
sands. There are many, and there will 
be many more, who through its im- 

285 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

pelling influence " have washed their 
robes, and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb." 

Dr. Charles S. Robinson thus writes: 
" The incidents which might be related 
concerning the usefulness of these five 
simple stanzas would make us think of 
the Evangelist's affectionate extrava- 
gance : ' And there are also many other 
things which Jesus did, the which, if 
they should be written every one, I sup- 
pose that even the world itself could 
not contain the books that should be 
written * [John 21 : 25]. Biographies 
are full of them; tracts are made out 
of them; every minister of the gospel 
has his memory crowded with them. 
Literary critics find great fault with 
some of the expressions, and declare 
that people of taste do not know what 
they are singing about when they speak 
of a ' fountain filled/ and filled with 
' blood/ the blood drawn from the veins 
of one man that another might be 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

< washed ' in it. Still the spiritually- 
taught children of God go on singing 
the lines undisturbed. They know what 
the hymn means ; they may not be able 
to tell others exactly, but they go on 
singing this, and ' Rock of Ages ' with 
it, till their tongues lie silent in the 
grave." 

W. T. Stead writes: "All the ani- 
madversions are as the lightest dust in 
the balance compared with the fact of 
the marvellous influence which the sing- 
ing of this hymn has had in softening 
the hearts of men upon such occasions 
of spiritual quickening as are known as 
the great Irish Revivals. It has been 
the means of changing the lives of 
more men than all those who have ever 
heard the name of most of its critics." 

If the hymn had rendered no other 
service to humanity than leading Sam- 
uel H. Hadley, the late Superintendent 
of the old McAuley Water Street 
Mission, New York City, to Christ, it 

987 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

would have been abundantly worth 
while. On January 29, 1906, a short 
time before he went to his heavenly 
reward, he thus wrote: 

" Many of the hymns which are to 
appear in your book have long been 
familiar to me, but I will speak of only 
one : ' There Is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood.' That is my baptismal hymn. 
When I was a poor, helpless, dying 
drunkard in the old Jerry McAuley 
Mission, twenty-three years, nine 
months, and six nights ago to-night, 
after I had made some feeble prayer, 
Jerry sang that hymn in that peculiar 
voice of his: 

" * There is a fountain filled with blood 
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins; 
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, 
Lose all their guilty stains. 5 

" I had heard this dear old hymn 
many times around my father's fireside 
when a boy, and it brought back mem- 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

ories of happy days departed. When 
Jerry asked me to pray, I did pray, and 
Jesus, the loving Saviour, came into 
my heart and has been there ever since. 
I am so glad that you are going to use 
this hymn in your collection." 

Mr. Hadley tells of John M. Wood, 
a drunken sailor, who had been dis- 
charged from the United States Navy 
for chronic alcoholism, after a sendee 
of thirteen years, and who was on the 
way to the river, determined to end his 
wretched earthly life, when he heard the 
singing of " There Is a Fountain Filled 
with Blood," a hymn which had been 
familiar to him in his innocent child- 
hood. The singing was coming from 
the old McAuley Mission. He could 
not resist the temptation to enter. He 
w T as converted, and never after tasted 
whiskey. He longed to return to the 
Navy Yard and tell his former asso- 
ciates of the great blessing which had 
come to him, and finally obtained per- 

19 289 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

mission to hold service on the " Chi- 
cago." So effective was his plea that 
when he asked those who desired to 
lead a better life to signify their in- 
tention by rising, nearly two hundred 
men stood up. Officers of the Ameri- 
can Seaman's Friend Society were 
present, and they instinctively felt that 
this was the man to be made Chaplain 
of the Navy Yard. His power over 
seamen was remarkable, and he suc- 
ceeded in starting a Christian Endeavor 
Society on every one of the six war- 
ships of the White Squadron. 

It was through the singing of this 
hymn by Ira D. Sankey at a meeting 
conducted by Dwight L. Moody in 
1870, that these two blessed servants of 
God were brought together and were 
led to enter upon the great evangelistic 
efforts which resulted in the conversion 
of many immortal souls, and which 
continued for nearly thirty years. 

The Rev. T. B. Anderson writes of 

290 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

a great religious service once held in a 
city of Texas by a prominent evan- 
gelist. " The minister had been preach- 
ing two and three times a day for nearly 
two weeks, and great crowds had lis- 
tened to his eloquent sermons. The last 
Sabbath afternoon came, and the build- 
ing was crowded. The preacher an- 
nounced that in view of the long strain 
to which he had been subjected he was 
physically unable to deliver a sermon, 
but that he would try to make a brief 
farewell address. After the usual 
opening exercises, he spoke for a few 
moments and then began repeating 
' There Is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood.' As he proceeded the effect was 
electrical. The Spirit took hold of first 
the preacher and then the people, and 
all were greatly moved. When he 
reached the last line he invited all who 
would accept Christ to come to the 
altar, and many pressed forward. 
It seemed that the Spirit came like 

291 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

an avalanche through this hymn that 
afternoon to almost as many as were 
present." 

At a meeting held by Torrey and 
Alexander, in Philadelphia, in 1906, 
Mr. Alexander asked those present to 
mention the hymns that had the most 
to do with their conversion, and it was 
clearly evident from the responses that 
" There Is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood " led all the others. Mr. Alex- 
ander said: " I first heard that blessed 
hymn in a little log meeting-house in 
Tennessee, and I got some touches of 
religion down there that I have never 
been able to get anywhere else." 

The Rev. G. P. Rutledge, of Phila- 
delphia, contributes this incident out of 
his own personal experience: "In the 
early part of my ministry I held a short 
series of meetings in the country. It 
was summer, and the services were con- 
ducted in a grove, the pulpit being a 
small cliff . 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

" A middle-aged man had been 
pointed out to me as the leading sinner 
of the community. I immediately 
sought to interest him in spiritual mat- 
ters, but he refused to converse with 
me on the subject. At the close of the 
last service I announced that we would 
sing ' There Is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood/ and then added, solemnly, ' This 
will be the last of these precious invita- 
tions. In a few moments we will dis- 
perse, and I will be driven to the train. 
I doubt if I shall ever see you again in 
this world. Many of you have accepted 
Christ, but there is one man among you 
in whom I am deeply interested and 
with whom I have tried to talk. I feel 
that unless he finds Christ now he may 
be forever lost. I pray that while we 
sing this hymn he may give his heart 
to his Saviour. 

"When the last stanza was being 
sung he walked slowly through the 
crowd and came to me, with tears f all- 

293 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ing down his cheeks, and said, ' I want 
to confess Jesus before this stammer- 
ing tongue lies silent in the grave.' ' 

One more incident must suffice. It 
was written by the Rev. Frank B. 
Lynch, of St. Luke's Methodist 
Church, Philadelphia: 

" Many years ago a theatrical com- 
pany was billed to play a series of 
Shakespearian plays in St. Louis, Mis- 
souri. The leading actor was a man 
of great ability but very irreligious. 
As the engagement lasted over one 
Sunday, and as the time on that day 
hung somewhat heavily, it was pro- 
posed that some of them attend a re- 
vival service that was being held in a 
Methodist Episcopal church, under the 
direction of the Pastor, who was a noted 
evangelist. 

" The actors went more through curi- 
osity than from any other considera- 
tion, and the leader especially boasted 
of the amusement he expected to have 

294 



THERE IS A FOUNTAIN 

at the evening's ' performance,' as he 
termed it. The sermon was a powerful 
presentation of the scene of the great 
day of judgment. It deeply affected 
the audience and suppressed the amuse- 
ment of the actors. The leader was 
the most indifferent of them all; but 
during the singing of the hymn, ' There 
Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,' he 
suddenly leaned forward in the pew and 
burst into tears. The minister came 
down to him and appealed to him to 
come forward for prayers. To the 
surprise of all, he at once complied, 
bowed at the altar, and was happily 
converted. He at once severed his con- 
nection with the stage, and after proper 
preparation was admitted to the min- 
istry, where he became a most effective 
preacher and evangelist. He used to 
say that he had successfully resisted the 
appeal of the minister, but that the 
hymn sung at the close of the sermon 
so vividly set forth his own personal 

296 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

relation to the death of Christ and the 
possibilities of instant pardon, that he 
was overwhelmed with grief for his 
sins and with a desire for a better life." 
A source of great grief to Cowper, 
when his mind was overcast, was the 
fear that God had deserted him. How 
he would have rejoiced could he have 
known how signally God would honour 
him through the ages by turning many 
to righteousness through the use of his 
hymns! 



296 



XIV 

FROM GREENLAND'S ICY 
MOUNTAINS 



Jf torn dlreenlanb's tcp mountain*, 

Jf rom Snbia's coral stranb, 
flKHljere &fric's sunnp fountain* 

BjdII boton tijeir golben sanb, 
Jfrom man? an ancient riber, 

Jf rom man? a palmp plain, 
Stye? call us to beliber 

{TO&eir lanb from error's cfjain. 

Wlfat tfjougfj tfje sptcp breeze* 

Ploto soft o'er Ceplon's isle; 
QKjougf) eberp prospect pleases, 

Slnb onlp man in bile ; 
3fn bain tuitlj labisf) kindness 

®fte gifts of (gob are stroton ; 
W&t fjeatfjen, in fjis blinbness, 

3BotoS boton to tooob anb stone. 

Can toe, tofjose souls are ligfjteb 

®Hitf) toisbom from on f)igfj, 
Can toe, to men bcnigfjteb, 

Wyt lamp of life benp ? 
fealbation! ©saltation! 

tEfje jopf ul sounb proclaim, 
WU cacf) remotest nation 

J|as learneb JWessiafj's Jlame, 

299 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

3KBaft, toaft, pe toinbs, W* storp, 

&nb pou, pe toaters, roll, 
flKtt, like a sea of gtorp, 

3 1 spreabs from pole to pole ; 
Will o'er our ransomeb nature 

W$t Hamb for sinner* slain, 
3Rebeemer, lling, Creator, 

3fn bliss returns to reign. 



300 



FROM GREENLAND'S ICY 
MOUNTAINS 




E regret that we are able 
to add but little to 
the well-known story of 
this matchless mission- 
ary hymn, yet we gladly 
include it, as no collection of this kind, 
however limited in its selection, would 
be worthy of the name unless it con- 
tained this splendid appeal for the 
quickening of spiritual zeal, 

" Till each remotest nation 

Has learned Messiah's Name." 

Its poetic excellence, its spiritual 
fervour, its fine optimism, and its thrill- 
ing music insure it an abiding place 
in our song-books and in our hearts. 

The Rev. David It. Breed, D.D., 
speaks of it in the most appreciative 
terms. " In this particular class of 
sacred literature," he says, " we rise 

301 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

with Heber to the very crest of the 
wave; his work is the climax. ... It 
is expressed in the choicest poetic terms. 
. . . The diction is incomparably beau- 
tiful. . . . Every line, indeed, is as pol- 
ished and refined as it can be. It is the 
art of the jeweller in the precious gems 
of language." 

How singularly inclusive, from a 
missionary view-point, are the opening 
lines: 

" From Greenland's icy mountains, 

From India's coral strand, 
Where Afric's sunny fountains 

Roll down their golden sand, 
From many an ancient river, 

From many a palmy plain, 
They call us to deliver 

Their land from error's chain." 

And what could be more appealing 
and suggestive than, 

" Can we, whose souls are lighted 
With wisdom from on high, 
Can we, to men benighted, 
The lamp of life deny? " 
302 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

Some one has well written: " It does 
not necessarily take a lifetime to ac- 
complish immortality. A brave act 
done in a moment, a courageous word 
spoken at the fitting time, a few lines 
which can be written on a sheet of 
paper, may give one a deathless name. 
Such was the case with Reginald Heber, 
known far and wide, wherever the 
Christian religion has penetrated, by his 
unequalled missionary hymn, ' From 
Greenland's Icy Mountains.' " 

Like such well-known hymns as 
" Abide With Me," " Stand Up, Stand 
Up for Jesus," " Onward, Christian 
Soldiers," and others, it was written at 
a sitting and for temporary need, with 
no thought of its world-wide usefulness 
in the coming years. 

Fortunately, the story of the origin 
of the hymn has been authentically 
preserved, and is as follows: 

"On Whitsunday, 1819, the late 
Dr. Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph and 

303 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Vicar of Wrexham, preached a sermon 
in Wrexham Church in aid of the 
Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts. That day- 
was also fixed upon for the commence- 
ment of the Sunday evening lectures 
intended to be established in the church, 
and the late Bishop of Calcutta 
[Heber], then Rector at Hodnet, the 
Dean's son-in-law, undertook to deliver 
the first lecture. In the course of the 
Saturday previous, the Dean and his 
son-in-law being together in the vicar- 
age, the former requested Heber to 
write something for them to sing in the 
morning, and he retired for that pur- 
pose from the table, where the Dean and 
a few friends were sitting, to a distant 
part of the room. In a short time the 
Dean inquired, ' What have you writ- 
ten?' Heber, having then composed 
the first three verses, read them over. 
c There, there, that will do very well/ 
said the Dean. ' No, no ; the sense is 

304 




Ctf#* **?**•' 



HE RETIRED FOR THAT PURPOSE TO A DISTANT PART OF 

the room." — Page SOJf, 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

not complete/ replied Heber. Accord- 
ingly, he added the fourth verse, and the 
Dean being inexorable to his repeated 
request of ' Let me add another, oh, let 
me add another/ thus completed the 
hymn . . . which has since become so 
celebrated. It was sung the next morn- 
ing in Wrexham Church for the first 
time." 

The original manuscript, bearing the 
scar of the hook on which it was hung 
by the printer who put it into type the 
Saturday it was composed, is still pre- 
served. It was exhibited at the World's 
Exhibition in London in 1851. It be- 
came the property of Dr. Thomas 
Raffles, of Liverpool, himself a hym- 
nologist of some note, and when his col- 
lection was sold this manuscript brought 
forty-two pounds. It is said that the 
collection on the occasion when the 
hymn was first sung amounted to 
thirty- four pounds. 

So perfect was the hymn in its origi- 

20 305 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

nal conception that it remained un- 
changed by its author save in a single 
instance — the word heathen, in the sec- 
ond verse, being substituted for savage. 

It would be an interesting exercise 
for the poetically inclined to attempt 
to suggest the verse that Heber would 
have added to the hymn had his father- 
in-law consented; and yet, in view of 
the completeness of the lines, such a 
task would be exceedingly difficult. 

When Heber was appointed Bishop 
of Calcutta, a correspondent sent a copy 
of his hymn, accompanied by a letter, 
to The Christian Observer, and both 
letter and hymn were published in that 
paper in February, 1823. The letter 
is as follows : 

"The accompanying missionary hymn 
is so beautiful, considered as poetry, 
and so honourable as the effusion of a 
Christian mind, that I should request 
its insertion in your pages, even if it 
were not the production of a writer 

306 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

whose devout and elevated muse justly 
obtained your labours [a review of 
Heber's " Palestine/' which appeared 
in The Observer] ; whose name has 
since been often mentioned in your 
pages with high respect; and whose ap- 
pointment to a most important station 
in the church of Christ [to be Bishop 
of Calcutta] you have recently an- 
nounced with a pleasure which is shared 
bv all who have at heart the moral 
and spiritual welfare of our numerous 
fellow-subjects, native and European, 
in the East. The hymn having ap- 
peared some time since in print, with 
the name of Reginald Heber annexed, 
I can feel no scruple in annexing that 
name to it on the present occasion. 
There is nothing, either in the sentiment 
or the poetry, but what does honour to 
the now Right Reverend Prelate, while 
it must delight every Christian mind to 
witness such devout ardour for the ex- 
tension of ' Messiah's Name,' in a sta- 

307 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WOULD 

tion so eminently important for giving 
effect to that desire in all those measures 
which Christian piety, meekness, and 
prudence may suggest." 

A copy of The Observer containing 
the letter and hymn found its way 
across the Atlantic and was read by a 
lady in Savannah, Georgia; and it was 
through this means that the words were 
destined to be associated with the beau- 
tiful music to which they are now sung. 
Robinson thus tells the story in his 
Annotations: 

" The tune, ' Missionary Hymn,' to 
which this piece is universally sung in 
America, was composed by Dr. Lowell 
Mason. The history of its composi- 
tion is in like measure romantic; the 
family of the now deceased musician 
has very kindly supplied the facts: 

" It seems that a lady residing in 
Savannah, Georgia, had in some way 
become possessed of a copy of the 
words sent to this country from Eng- 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

land. This was in 1823. She was 
arrested by the beauty of the poetry 
and its possibilities as a hymn. But the 
meter of 7s, 6s, D. was almost new in 
this period; there was no tune that 
would fit the measure. She had been 
told of a young clerk in a bank, Lowell 
Mason by name, just a few doors away 
down the street. It was said that he had 
the gift for making beautiful songs. 
She sent a boy to this genius in music, 
and in a half hour's time he returned 
with this composition. Like the hymn it 
voices, it was done at a stroke, but it will 
last through the ages." 

In the great revival in Philadelphia 
in 1858, fuller mention of which is made 
in the chapter on " Stand Up, Stand 
Up for Jesus," the United States war- 
ship " North Carolina " was lying at 
the old navy yard, near the foot of 
Washington Avenue, on the Delaware 
River. Many of the sailors attended 
the services and a number professed 

309 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

conversion. Getting into this closer 
spiritual relationship, they began talk- 
ing to each other more freely of their 
homes, and it was found that they rep- 
resented several nationalities. When 
one stated that he was from Greenland, 
they instinctively and spontaneously 
began singing Heber's great missionary 
hymn. 

Reginald Heber was born in Malpas, 
Chester County, England, on the 21st 
of April, 1783. His father was an 
Episcopalian clergyman, his mother 
the daughter of a clergyman. " His 
early childhood was distinguished by 
mildness of disposition, obedience to 
parents, consideration for the feelings 
of those around him, and trust in the 
providence of God, which formed, 
through life, so prominent a part of 
his character." 

He could read the Bible with ease 
when he was five years of age, and 
" even then was remarkable for the 

310 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

avidity with which he studied it, and for 
his accurate knowledge of its contents." 
He also wrote very commendable verses 
at an early age. 

At the age of seventeen he entered 
Brazenose College, Oxford, November, 
1800, and soon after won the Chan- 
cellor's medal for the best Latin verse. 
In the spring of 1803 he wrote his cele- 
brated poem " Palestine." Sir Walter 
Scott, who was twelve years his senior, 
thus writes of him at this time: " I spent 
some merry days with Heber at Oxford, 
when he was writing his prize poem 
['Palestine']. He was then a gay 
young fellow, a wit and a satirist, and 
burning for literary fame. My laurels 
were beginning to bloom, and we were 
both madcaps." One morning when 
they were breakfasting together, a por- 
tion of " Palestine " was read. ' You 
have omitted one striking circumstance 
in your account of the building of the 
temple," said Sir Walter, "that no 

311 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

tools were used in its erection." Before 
the party separated, Heber had added 
the lines which afterwards became the 
best-known of the poem: 

" No hammer fell, no ponderous axes swung ; 
Like some majestic palm the mystic fabric 
sprung, 

Majestic silence!" 

" The success which attended this 
prize poem has been unparalleled in its 
class; universally read at the time, by 
many committed to memory, it has re- 
tained its place among the higher poetic 
compositions of the age." Seventeen 
years later the author heard it sung at 
Oxford as an oratorio. 

He spent 1805-06 in a Continental 
tour. In 1807 he was ordained and 
became the Rector of Hodnet. Two 
years later he married the youngest 
daughter of Dean William D. Ship- 
ley, and one child came to brighten 
their lives. It was the death of this 

312 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

child, in early infancy, that prompted 
his beautiful hymn of submission, 
commencing, 

" Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not 
deplore thee." 

In 1820, an infectious disease ap- 
peared in the town and neighbourhood 
of Hodnet. Mr. Heber heroically gave 
himself to ministering to the sick, and 
when remonstrated with, said: "I am 
as much in God's keeping in the sick 
man's chamber as in my own room." 
He caught the disease from the poor 
people of the workhouse, and was, for 
a time, in grave danger of losing his 
life. 

He was Rector of Hodnet for six- 
teen years, and greatly endeared himself 
to his people. 

In January, 1823, he was appointed 
Bishop of Calcutta. The following 
month the honourary degree of Doctor 
of Divinity was conferred upon him by 

313 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Oxford. He sailed for India in June 
of that year, and reached his destination 
in October. 

Under date of September there is this 
interesting reference in his diary: 
" Though we are now too far off Cey- 
lon to catch the odours of the land, yet 
it is, we are assured, perfectly true that 
such odours are perceptible to a very 
considerable distance. In the Straits of 
Malacca a smell like that of a haw- 
thorne hedge is commonly experienced; 
and from Ceylon, at thirty or forty 
miles, under certain circumstances, a yet 
more agreeable scent is inhaled." 

He became very popular in India, 
and did excellent work for the Master; 
but he was called to his heavenly reward 
" in the meridian of his reputation and 
Christian utility, leaving behind him no 
recollection but of his amiable manner, 
his sweetness of temper, his goodness 
of heart, his universal charity, his splen- 
did and various talents, and all his deep 

314 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

devotion to the duties of his sacred 
calling." 

He had preached on the 2d of April, 
1826, and on the following morning had 
attended to a number of parochial du- 
ties, among them being the confirmation 
of a class of forty-two members and 
delivering to them a stirring call to 
faithfulness. Returning home, thor- 
oughly exhausted, he retired to his room 
for a bath. Shortly after, a servant, on 
going to the room, found him dead in 
the water, his death having been caused 
by apoplexy. This untimely end of his 
earthly career, at the early age of forty- 
three, caused sincere grief in India, 
England, and elsewhere. 

" How often," exclaimed a young 
sufferer, " do some of Bishop Heber's 
hymns rise within my soul, as if the 
hand of my Redeemer had touched all 
the musical chords within me ! I sing to 
myself, while the sea is whispering and 
roaring by turns on the beach; and 

315 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

then I look out on the waters as I lie 
here, and love to think of that cultivated 
and gifted man crossing the deep 
under the constraining power of his Re- 
deemer's love, and gladly sacrificing all 
the comforts and honours of his native 
land for the joy of proclaiming peace to 
the multitudes of India. . . . How I 
love to watch him as the tear trembles 
in his eyes at hearing one of his own 
blessed hymns sung far up in India, at 
Meerut, and sung, as he says, ' better 
than he had ever heard it sung before/ 
Oh, that last kind address of his to the 
class he confirmed on the day of his 
death. How often I have read it! 
* And now/ he said, ' depart in the faith 
and favour of the Lord; and if what you 
have learned and heard this day has been 
so far blessed as to produce a serious 
and lasting effect on you, let me en- 
treat vou to remember sometimes in 
your prayers those ministers of Christ 
who have laboured for your instruction, 

316 



GREENLAND S ICY MOUNTAINS 

that we who have preached to you may 
not ourselves be cast away, but that it 
may be given to us also to walk in this 
present life according to the words of 
the gospel which we have received of 
the Lord, and to rejoice hereafter with 
you, the children of our care, in that 
land where the weary shall find repose 
and the wicked cease from troubling; 
where we shall behold God as He is, 
and be ourselves made like unto Him in 
innocence and happiness and immor- 
tality. ' Blessed man! he soon found 
his rest after uttering these words. 
How touching it is, that story of his 
end! Alone in his last moments, and 
his happy spirit suddenly departing, 
and leaving his body in the waters of 
the bath in which he had sought refresh- 
ment after his toils." 

It is no small honour to have been the 
author of several hymns which are, with- 
out doubt, among the very best of their 
kind: "From Greenland's Icy Moun- 

31T 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

tains," as a missionary hymn; " Holy, 
Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty," as a 
hymn of adoration; " The Son of God 
Goes Forth to War," as a martial hymn; 
" By Cool Siloam's Shady Rill," as a 
child's hymn; " Thou Art Gone to the 
Grave, But We Will Not Deplore Thee," 
as a hymn of resignation; "Bread of 
the World in Mercy Broken," as a com- 
munion hymn; " When Through the 
Torn Sail the Wild Tempest is Stream- 
ing," as a sailor's hymn; and " Brightest 
and Best of the Sons of the Morning," 
as a hymn to the infant Jesus — these 
and others will make the name of Heber 
familiar as long as English-speaking 
people lift up their hearts in praise to 
their Creator. 



sis 



XV 

SAFE IN THE ARMS OF 
JESUS 



&>al t in tfje arms of 3Tesus, 

B>att on %ts gentle breast, 
GTfjere bp J|ts lobe o'ersfjabeb, 
fetoeetlp mp soul sfjaU rest 
Jlarfe ! 't is tfje boice of angels 

Jiorne in a song to me, 
<©ber tfje f ielbs of glorp, 
©ber tfje jasper sea. 

£>afe in tfje arms of STesus, 

&afe on jfyis gentle breast; 

tEfjere bp J|ts lobe o'ersfjabeb, 

fetoeetlp mp soul sfjaU rest 

&>af e tn tfje arms of Sfesus, 

S>af e from corrobing care, 
g>afe from tfte toorlb's temptations 

§>in tannot fjarm me tfjere. 
Jf ree from tfje bligfjt of sorroto, 

Jfree from mp boubts anb fears; 
©nip a f eto more trials, — 

©nip a feto more tears! 

3Tesus, mp fjeart's bear &efuge, 

STesus fjas bieb for me ; 
Jf irm on tfje &ocfe of &ges 

€ber mp trust sfjaU be* 

21 321 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

jfyttt let me toatt toitf) patience, 
Wait ttU tfje mgfjt t* o'er ; 

Watt ttU 3 gee tfje morning 
JBvtak on tfje gotten srtjore. 

By permission of W. H. Doane, Esq., owner of the 
copyright 




SAFE IN THE ARMS OF 
JESUS 

ILL CARLETON, him- 
self a writer of popular 
verse, truthfully says : 
" All over this country 
and, one might say, the 
world, Fanny Crosby's hymns are sing- 
ing themselves into the hearts and souls 
of the people. They have been doing 
this for many years, and will do so as 
long as our civilisation lasts. There are 
to-day used in religious meetings more 
of her inspired lines than of any other 
poet, living or dead. . . . Her sacred 
lyrics have been translated into several 
languages. She is easily the greatest 
living writer of hymns, and will always 
occupy a high place among authors." 

Some years ago the Sunday at 
Home invited its readers to send lists 
of the one hundred English hymns 
which stood highest in their esteem. 

323 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Nearly three thousand five hundred 
responses were received. A list of the 
most popular one hundred hymns, ac- 
cording to this selection, was compiled. 
" Rock of Ages " received the highest 
number of votes, 3215; and the one 
hundredth, " Sometimes a Light Sur- 
prises/' 866. Fanny Crosby's hymn, 
" Safe in the Arms of Jesus,'' ranked 
sixty-fifth. 

The gifted authoress of this comfort- 
ing hymn had the seeming misfortune 
to lose her sight when only six weeks of 
age, apparently through the incompe- 
tency of a physician who treated her 
for what appeared to be at the time 
only a slight inflammation of the eyes. 
Throughout the years she has borne her 
affliction bravely, and declares it to be 
her belief that an all-wise Father in- 
tended that she should pass her days in 
darkness in order that she might the 
better sing His praises. 

She was born in Putnam County, 

324 



SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS 

New York, on the 24th of March, 1820, 
of good Revolutionary stock. She 
grew into a happy, fun-loving girl, and 
her blindness did not prevent her from 
sharing in many of the joys of child- 
hood. She writes, in her very interest- 
ing autobiography, which all should 
read, that she could climb a tree or ride a 
horse as well as any of her playmates. 
" Gradually," she says, " I began to 
lose my regret and sorrow at having 
been robbed of sight: little by little 
God's promises and consolations came 
throbbing into my mind. Not only the 
Scriptures, but the hymns that I had 
heard sung Sabbath after Sabbath, 
made deep impressions upon me." 

When nine years of age she moved 
to Ridgefield, Connecticut, and there 
lived with a Mrs. Hawley, who fre- 
quently read to her from the Bible and 
from books of verse. Fanny must have 
been a remarkably precocious child for 
within a year she had committed to 

325 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

memory the first four books of the Old 
Testament and the four Gospels; she 
could also recite many poems. 

Her first verses were written when 
she was eight years old, and were very 
creditable for one so young; and they 
were no less commendable because of 
their fine optimism — a characteristic 
which has always been prominent in 
Fanny Crosby's nature. 

As she grew older she developed a 
keen desire for knowledge — a desire 
which, by reason of her physical infirm- 
ity, seemed, for a long time, to have 
no possibility of realisation; but in 
1835, when she had reached the age of 
fifteen, she had the good fortune to be 
sent to a school for the blind in New 
York City. This opportunity to im- 
prove her mental faculties filled her 
with inexpressible happiness. Her first 
teacher in this institution was Dr. John 
D. Russ, who had been associated with 
Lord Byron in his romantic efforts to 

326 



SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS 

assist the Greeks to gain their independ- 
ence. It was an inspiration to her to 
come into this close relation with one 
who had known the brilliant English 
poet. She was also greatly encour- 
aged on learning that Homer, Ossian, 
Milton, and others, although blind, had 
become famous authors. 

Her mental development was rapid, 
and at the age of twenty-two she be- 
came a teacher in the school in which 
for seven years she had been a pupil. 
Soon after, William Cullen Bryant, 
who was then at the height of his fame, 
visited the institution and spoke en- 
couragingly to the young teacher of 
some verses of hers which he had 
chanced to read. " He never knew," 
she said, " how much good he did by 
those few words to the young girl who 
had hardly hoped to touch the hem of 
his proud robe of poetic genius." 

During these years she had written 
much poetry, and was specially pleased 

327 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

when the distinguished Scotch phrenol- 
ogist, Dr. George Combe, visiting the 
school, examined her head and ex- 
claimed: "Why, here is a poet! Give 
her every advantage that she can have; 
let her hear the best books and converse 
with the best writers, and she will make 
her mark in the world." 

In 1844 a number of the blind stu- 
dents appeared before the United States 
Senate and the House of Representa- 
tives in an effort to interest the mem- 
bers in the school and secure an 
appropriation. Fanny Crosby gave a 
poetical address. " I have been told," 
she says, " that I was the first and last 
poet ever invited to speak or recite his or 
her own productions before the great 
National Assembly." 

It is interesting to note the names of 
some of the representative men who 
were among her audience: John 
Quincy Adams, James Buchanan, 
Andrew Johnson, Hannibal Hamlin, 

328 



SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS 

Stephen A. Douglas, Rufus Choate, 
Thomas H. Benton, Hamilton Fish, 
Henry A. Wise, Alexander Stephens, 
Jefferson Davis, and Robert Toombs, 
all of whom had already, or subse- 
quently, achieved national distinction. 

When Henry Clay's son was killed 
at the battle of Buena Vista, in 1847, 
Miss Crosby composed and sent to the 
grief-stricken father a poem of sym- 
pathy. Some time after, Mr. Clay 
made an address before the school; at 
its close he sought out the blind girl 
and, leading her to the front of the 
platform, said: "This is not the first 
time I have felt the comforting pres- 
ence of this young friend, although I 
never saw her before. Into the deep 
wounds of my sorrow she has poured 
the balm of consolation." 

In 1848 General Winfield Scott vis- 
ited the school, only a few months 
after his great triumph in Mexico ; and 
shortly after, General Bertrand, one 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

of Napoleon's most brilliant officers, 
who was with him when he died an exile 
at St. Helena, was a guest of the 
school. Two years later, Jenny Lind 
came, and entranced the teachers and 
scholars by her marvellous singing. 

With Grover Cleveland, who fre- 
quently copied her poems for her when 
he was a youth of sixteen, she has en- 
joyed a long and highly prized friend- 
ship. His brother was head teacher in 
the school, and young Grover spent 
some time there, immediately after his 
father's death in 1853, as a clerk. 

In 1844 Fanny Crosby published 
her first volume of verse, The Blind 
Girl, and Other Poems. Since that 
time a number of volumes have 
appeared from her pen. 

It will doubtless be a surprise to 
many to be informed that Fanny 
Crosby's real name is Frances Van 
Alstyne. In 1858 she married Alexan- 
der Van Alstyne, a blind teacher of the 

330 



SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS 

school in which she herself taught. He 
had been a pupil in several of her classes* 
He was a brilliant musician and a fine 
classical scholar. They lived happily 
together until his death, June 18, 
1902. It was at her husband's special 
request that she continued, after her 
marriage, to sign her maiden name to 
her writings. 

She is a voluminous writer of hymns, 
and has composed over five thousand. 
She has written as many as seven in 
one day. She never enters upon com- 
positions of this nature without an 
earnest prayer that her efforts may 
be used to the glory of God and the 
uplift of humanity. Among her best- 
known hymns are " Only a Step to 
Jesus"; "Pass Me Not, O Gentle 
Saviour " ; " Jesus, Keep Me Near the 
Cross"; " To the Work " ; "Blessed 
Assurance "; " I Am Thine, O Lord "; 
" Only a Beam of Sunshine " ; " Rescue 
the Perishing "; " There 's a Cry from 

331 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Macedonia"; "We Shall Know Each 
Other There"; "Just a Word for 
Jesus " ; " Saviour, More than Life to 
Me"; and " Saved by Grace." 

Perhaps, however, the hymn of her 
composing which is destined to have the 
most widespread popularity is " Safe 
in the Arms of Jesus." It has already 
brought peace and comfort to number- 
less lives, and will continue its heaven- 
sent mission for years to come. It 
seems to have a special place in the 
hearts of mothers whose lost darlings 
are forever " safe from the world's 
temptations." 

On the 8th of August, 1885, when 
General U. S. Grant was laid to rest 
in Riverside Park, on the banks of the 
beautiful Hudson, with all the civic 
devotion and martial pride befitting the 
foremost soldier of his time, from band 
after band there came on the solemn 
summer air the comforting and sym- 
pathetic music of " Safe in the Arms 

332 




FANNY, I HAVE JUST FORTY MINUTES; DURING THAT 
TIME YOU MUST WRITE ME A HYMN." Page « 



SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS 

of Jesus," intermingled in tender and 
touching harmony with the hushed 
notes of funeral bells, the muffled boom 
of minute guns from the fleet in the 
river, the subdued footfall of marching 
thousands, and the suppressed hum of 
human voices which is heard only when 
vast crowds are brought together by a 
common sorrow. 

Miss Crosby gives us this interesting 
account of the origin of the hymn: 
" One day Mr. W. H. Doane, who 
composed much beautiful music, came to 
me hurriedly and exclaimed : ' Fanny, 
I have just forty minutes to catch the 
train for Cincinnati; during that time 
you must write me a hymn, and give 
me a few minutes to catch the train/ 

" I happened to be in a good mood 
for writing. He hummed the melody 
to which he wanted the words written, 
and in fifteen minutes I gave them to 
him and he started away. Upon his 
arrival home he published them, and I 

333 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

have been told upon good authority 
that the hymn is now sung wherever 
Christian music is known." 

She also gives this interesting inci- 
dent in connection with this beautiful 
hymn: "When Mr. Sankey was in 
Edinburgh, an old Scotch woman came 
to him and said she wanted to thank him 
for writing ' Safe in the Arms of Jesus.' 
'But I didn't write it,' replied Mr. 
Sankey; ' that was Fanny Crosby,' and 
he sat down and told her about me. 

" ' Well,' said the old lady, when he 
was through, ' when ye gang back to 
America, gie her my love, and tell her 
an auld Scotch woman sends her bless- 
ings. The last hymn my daughter sang 
before she died was that one.' ' 

A mother was very much interested 
in a conversation carried on by her two 
little girls. One of them had been sing- 
ing " Safe in the Arms of Jesus," and 
the other had interrupted her with the 
question: " How do you know that you 

334 



SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS 

are safe?" " Because," was the response, 
" I am holding on to Jesus with both 
hands." " But that does not make you 
safe," persisted the other; "suppose 
Satan should cut off your hands." 
For a moment a troubled expression 
came into the trustful little face, but it 
almost instantly cleared and she joy- 
ously exclaimed, "Oh, I made a mistake! 
Jesus is holding me with His hands, and 
Satan can't cut His hands off. I am 
perfectly safe in His arms." Could any 
answer have been more beautiful! 

On the 24th of March, 1906, two col- 
ored men were hanged in the jail yard 
at Mt. Holly, New Jersey. At the 
moment when they were about to pay 
the extreme penalty for their awful 
crime, after expressing their belief in 
their salvation, some one was heard 
singing " Safe in the Arms of Jesus." 
It proved to be a prisoner, with a tenor 
voice of rare sweetness, who occupied a 
cell overlooking the scaffold. It is not 

335 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

too great a stretch of faith to believe 
that even these two misguided souls, 
who atoned for their crime with their 
lives, and confessed their contrition, 
may have been saved, even as was the 
sinner on the cross at Calvary. " If we 
confess our sins, He is faithful and just 
to forgive us our sins." 

More than ever, as the years go by, 
the popularity of Fanny Crosby's 
hymns increases. In almost every 
gathering where the salvation of souls 
is the chief object of concern, one or 
more of her compositions are sung. 
There are many to-day who can say 
with grateful, whole-hearted sincerity, 
Thank God for Fanny Crosby, and for 
all her labours of love and usefulness ! 

" Rich in experience that angels might covet ; 
Rich in a faith that has grown with the 
years," 

she waits serenely in the mellow glow of 
life's golden sunset with little to regret 

336 



SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS 

and with much for which to be grateful. 
She knows in whom she has believed, 
and as she bides His time she labours 
on, sending forth hymns of hope and 
love; and praying still, as she has 
prayed along the years, that her mes- 
sages of cheer may reach sin-stained 
souls, and that through their blessed 
ministry many, at the last great day, 
may be found sharing with herself the 
supreme spiritual joy and privilege of 
being 

" Safe in the arms of Jesus." 



29 S37 



XVI 

MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE 



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342 




THE REV D SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH, D.D., AUTHOR OF 
"MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE." 




MY COUNTRY, 'T IS OF THEE 

HE Rev, Samuel Francis 
Smith, D.D., author of 
" America," which is 
better known as " My 
Country, 'T is of Thee," 
attended a patriotic gathering in the Old 
South Church, Boston, Massachusetts, 
in February, 1895, in commemoration 
of Washington's birthday. During the 
exercises Dr. Edward Everett Hale, 
who presided, recited Dr. Smith's popu- 
lar hymn, and repeated the comment of 
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes in regard 
to it: "What is fame? To write a 
hymn which sixty millions of people 
sing; that is fame." Judged by this 
standard, there is no doubt of Dr. 
Smith having attained fame, for his 
hymn is a universal favourite and is 
sung with patriotic fervour the land 
over. The custom is becoming general 
for American audiences to sing it with 

343 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

bared heads and standing, — a beautiful 
and fitting recognition of the honour 
due our beloved land, and the reverence 
due to God, who has so signally show- 
ered upon it His choicest blessings. 

In a letter dated " Newton Centre, 
Mass., November 7th, 1894," Dr. Smith 
sent to a friend a sketch of his life 
and an autograph copy of his hymn, 
both of which are here given. The 
biographical sketch is as follows : 

" S. F. Smith was born in Boston, 
October 21st, 1808. He studied at the 
Boston Latin School; graduated at 
Harvard College in 1829 and at An- 
dover Theological Seminary in 1832. 
He spent a year in editorial labours in 
Boston. In 1834 he was ordained in 
Waterville, Maine, pastor of the First 
Baptist Church. At the same time he 
commenced as professor of Modern 
Languages in Waterville College, now 
Colby University. He held this double 
office eight years. 

344 



MY COUNTRY, 't IS OF THEE 

" In January, 1842, he removed to 
Newton, Mass., and became pastor of 
the First Baptist Church. He held 
that office for twelve and a half years. 
Also, in January, 1842, he became 
editor of the Christian Review, a quar- 
terly published in Boston, and continued 
in this position seven years. He then 
became editorial secretary of the Amer- 
ican Baptist Missionary Union for fif- 
teen years, and also the permanent 
supply of two feeble churches. In 
1875 he visited Europe and travelled 
a year. Again, in 1880-1882, he visited 
Europe and Asia for a little over two 
years, surveying missions of all denomi- 
nations in Asia and Europe. Since his 
return he has been occupied with his 
literary pursuits and correspondence. 

" Have written poetry from my 
childhood. I have on hand now more 
than a hundred hymns, besides numer- 
ous other compositions, many of them 
occasional. 

345 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" Wrote ' My Country, 'T is of Thee/ 
in February, 1832. I was impressed 
with the tune, which I saw in a Ger- 
man music book, and I wrote the 
hymn to suit the metre. It is not a 
translation of the German words. The 
hymn was first sung in Park Street 
Church, Boston, at a children's cele- 
bration, July 4th, 1832, being intro- 
duced, without my knowledge, by 
Lowell Mason, Esq. [Dr. Edward 
Everett Hale, at that time ten years 
of age, was one of the children who 
sang on this occasion.] 

" I have always been interested in 
the acquisition of languages, and had 
facility in learning them. I have read 
books in fifteen different languages; 
and since my eighty-fifth birthday have 
undertaken the Russian/' 

Dr. Smith died on Saturday after- 
noon, November 16, 1895. He had 
just entered the 5.40 train for Read- 
ville, a suburb of Boston, where he had 

346 



MY COUNTRY, T IS OF THEE 

an engagement to preach on the follow- 
ing day. Turning to speak to a friend, 
he gasped for breath, threw up his 
hands, and fell backwards. He died 
almost instantly. 

On the morning of that day he had 
entertained at his home in Newton 
Centre, where he had lived in the one 
house for more than half a century, his 
old friend and Harvard classmate, the 
Rev. Samuel M. May. Apparently in 
the best of health, he told his friend of 
the great pleasure he had experienced 
in receiving so many tokens of respect 
from all over the country ; and also ex- 
pressed his gratification at being able 
to start in a short time to visit his son in 
Davenport, Iowa, with whom he ex- 
pected to spend the winter. He bade 
Mr. May good-bye within less than an 
hour of his death. 

A little while before this visit, Mr. 
May had written to Dr. Smith, congrat- 
ulating him on having the best health 

347 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

and the greatest ability to work of any 
of the four surviving members of their 
class of 1829 in Harvard, and Dr. Smith 
had answered in these words: " Yes, I 
am, perhaps, the best in health of the 
four remnants; I am grateful. Did I 
ever tell you that I was wee and weakly 
in my early days ? But the beginning of 
the study of Latin was the signal of my 
improvement, — a queer specific for 
feeble childhood, not set down in the 
medical books. I never found a Latin 
lesson a task." 

On the day of Dr. Smith's funeral 
all the business places of Newton 
Centre were closed, while the stars 
and stripes were at half mast on the 
common, the school building, and many 
private residences. 

As is well known, Dr. Oliver Wen- 
dell Holmes, another classmate of Dr. 
Smith at Harvard, in his celebrated 
class reunion poem entitled " The 
Boys," thus refers to him: 



MY COUNTRY, T IS OF THEE 

" And there 's a nice youngster of excellent 
pith, — 
Fate thought to conceal him by naming him 

Smith; 
But he shouted a song for the brave and 

the free, — 
Just read on his medal, ' My country,' ' of 
thee ' ! " 

Herbert D. Ward writes: "Dr. 
Holmes once said, ' Now, there 's 
Smith. His name will be honoured by 
every school child in the land when I 
have been forgotten for a hundred 
years. He wrote " My Country, 'T is of 
Thee." If he had said " Our country " 
the hymn would not have been immor- 
tal, but that " my " was a master stroke. 
Every one who sings the hymn at once 
feels a personal ownership in his native 
land. The hymn will last as long as 
the country/ " 

Continuing, Mr. Ward, writing in 
April, 1895 (seven months before the 
death of the venerable author) , gives us 
this interesting glimpse : " Dear old 

349 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Dr, Smith and I happen to live in the 
same town, and I can speak of him with 
the freedom of a neighbour and the 
reserve of an acquaintance. He is 
only eighty-six years old, and he gives 
the impression of being about seventy. 
With the exception of his deafness, 
which necessitates thoughtful articula- 
tion in talking to him, he is as hearty as 
he was forty years ago. The simpli- 
city of his life is one secret of its 
strength and beauty. He lives in a 
modest gabled brown house opposite 
the common. There seems to be a sort 
of poetic justice in the fact that on 
every school day the stars and stripes 
wave to the breeze from the tall pole in 
front of his house, and that the words 
of his own immortal song easily and 
often find their way, in children's voices, 
across the common, the street, the little 
front yard, to the heart of their birth. 
He is wide-awake to every phase of 
modern life, a profound student of 

350 



MY COUNTRY, 't IS OF THEE 

language, a courteous citizen, and a 
Christian neighbour and friend. He is 
always happy, and he has conferred 
happiness upon millions." 

On the 3d of April, 1895, a great 
celebration was held in Music Hall, 
Boston, in honour of Dr. Smith, and 
above five thousand people attended the 
afternoon and evening exercises, the 
afternoon service being especially for 
children. Dr. Smith was the central 
figure at each meeting. The decora- 
tions were in keeping with the patriotic 
nature of the occasion; flags and 
streamers were displayed, together with 
mottoes, emblems, and banners. In the 
rear of the hall, on a black background, 
and printed in gold letters, was the first 
line of " America," " My country, 't is 
of thee," also draped with the national 
colours. Both balconies were draped 
with bunting, caught up here and there 
with appropriate emblems and flags. 
The seals of the several States of the 

351 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Union were represented on the walls 
above. It was a picturesque scene and 
one well calculated to stir the hearts 
of the thousands who beheld it. 

In response to an address by Gover- 
nor F. T. Greenhalge, Dr. Smith said: 
" I have no words to express the gratifi- 
cation given me by the fact that you 
have taken my poor little waif — of 
which I thought so little — and made 
of it a national hymn. When I think 
of the circumstances under which it has 
been sung — in children's schools, in 
war meetings, on battlefields, in camp 
grounds, and in hospitals — when I 
think of the spirit of patriotism which 
I hope has been nurtured by means of 
it, I feel that you have done a wonder- 
ful work. I feel that you have done me 
and yourselves a service in thus teach- 
ing patriotism to the children and to the 
men and women of the country." 

" It was an inspiration," says a 
writer, " to be present and to have the 

352 



MY COUNTRY, T IS OF THEE 

honour of listening to the laureate of 
American patriotism. 55 And another 
writes of him at this time : " It is doubt- 
ful if Dr. Smith has an enemy, an 
opponent, a critic. He is a splendid 
example of true Christian character. 
He and his poem have gone round the 
world as promoters of love of country 
and of the universal kingdom of God." 
It is pleasant to know that our great 
patriotic hymn had its inspiration in so 
pure a heart. 

A handsome souvenir of the occa- 
sion contained the following statement 
by Dr. Smith of the origin of the 
hymn: 

"In the year 1831 William C. 
Woodbridge, of New York, a noted 
educator, was deputed to visit Germany 
and inspect the system of the public 
schools, that if he should find in them 
any features of interest unknown to 
our public schools here, they might be 
adopted in the schools of the United 

33 353 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

States. He found that in the German 
schools much attention was given to 
music; he also found many books con- 
taining music and songs for children. 
Returning home, he brought several of 
these music books, and placed them in 
the hands of Mr. Lowell Mason, then a 
noted composer, organist, and choir 
leader. Having himself no knowledge 
of the German language, Mr. Mason 
brought them to me at Andover, where I 
was then studying theology, requesting 
me, as I should find time, to furnish him 
translations of the German words, or 
to write new hymns and songs adapted 
to the German music. 

" On a dismal day in February, 1832, 
looking over one of these books, my 
attention was drawn to a tune which 
attracted me by its simple and natural 
movement and its fitness for children's 
choirs. Glancing at the German words 
at the foot of the page, I saw that they 
were patriotic, and I was instantly iri- 

354 



MY COUNTRY, T IS OF THEE 

spired to write a patriotic hymn of my 
own. 

" Seizing a scrap of waste paper, 
I began to write, and in half an hour, 
I think, the words stood upon it sub- 
stantially as they are sung to-day. I 
did not know at the time that the tune 
was the British ' God Save the King/ 
I do not share the regret of those who 
deem it an evil that the national tune 
of Britain and America is the same. 
On the contrary, I deem it a new 
and beautiful tie of union between 
the mother and the daughter, one 
furnishing the music (if, indeed, it 
is really English) and the other the 
words. 

" I did not propose to write a national 
hymn. I did not think that I had done 
so. I laid the song aside, and nearly 
forgot that I had made it. Some weeks 
later I sent it to Mr. Mason, and on 
the following 4th of July, much to 
my surprise, he brought it out at a chil- 

355 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

dren's celebration, where it was first 
sung in public." 

In an article written for The Out- 
look, Dr. Smith added the following: 

" I began very soon to hear of the 
hymn as being sung in numerous 
schools, at patriotic gatherings, at pic- 
nics, from Maine to Texas. The people 
took it into their hearts. It found a 
place in the hymn books of the various 
denominations. It came back to me 
with variations in Latin, in Italian, in 
German, and in Swedish. The scenes 
connected with the Civil War called it 
into universal requisition. The chil- 
dren had learned it at school, and now 
it nerved them as stalwart men. It was 
sung at meetings held to encourage vol- 
unteering into the army, to celebrate 
victories, to fast and pray after defeats, 
at soldiers' funerals, when the women 
met to pick lint and prepare bandages 
for the wounded, or to forward supplies 
to the front, in all schools and in all 

356 



MY COUNTRY, T IS OF THEE 

congregations. At a reception which 
I attended once in San Francisco I 
heard General Howard, whose empty 
sleeve spoke volumes, tell, with a tremor 
in his voice and tears on his cheeks, how 
he had heard it on the battlefields and 
in hospitals, by day and by night; the 
poor mutilated soldiers, as soon as their 
wounds were dressed, lifting up their 
voices in harmony, and singing yet an- 
other psean for their country, for which 
they were proud to suffer and to die; 
and the words seemed even to recall the 
dying to life. Not a dry eye was in the 
assembly as he reviewed the experiences 
of that period of the Nation's peril. 
And I have heard the hymn myself 
sung half round the world, wherever 
there are English tongues to speak or 
American hearts to pulsate." 

The Outlook adds: 

" The great celebration of Colum- 
bus Day, at the World Exposition, 
Chicago, which happened to fall on the 

357 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

birthday of the author of ' America/ 
was the occasion of another glorious 
utterance of the song. The public 
authorities determined to make the day 
not only memorable in honour of Co- 
lumbus and the discovery of America, 
but also contributory to the patriotism 
of the country, and especially a lesson 
for the children. And thus from East 
to West, from sea to sea, from the ris- 
ing of the sun to the going down of the 
same, the hymn of patriotism rolled in 
tides across the land from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, — a joyful paean of 
thanksgiving and a pledge of infinite 
promise/' 

On the Sunday preceding the Boston 
celebration, Dr. Smith preached for the 
last time in Newton Centre. The clos- 
ing words of his final prayer had an 
almost pathetic significance in the light 
of the manner of his death, which was 
soon to come: " So let our lives pass 
sweetly onward from Sabbath to Sab- 

358 



MY COUNTRY, *T IS OF THEE 

bath, and from year to year, until sud- 
denly, at some appointed time, we shall 
be permitted to change the earthly for 
the heavenly temple; the music of 
earth fading from our ears only to be 
exchanged for the music of heaven, 
whose sweetness shall never end." 

Dr. Smith relates that when travel- 
ling in Italy, with a company of Amer- 
icans, he spent a few days in Pompeii. 
It was suggested that it would be very 
appropriate in that dead and buried 
city to sing a live hymn, and " My 
Country, 'T is of Thee " was sung. A 
company of Scotchmen, not far away, 
then sang " Auld Lang Syne," and soon 
another group was heard singing a 
third national favourite. 

In Boston, in July, 1895, eleven 
thousand Christian Endeavorers gave 
Dr. Smith a royal ovation when he 
appeared before them. 

General James Grant Wilson tells 
this interesting incident: 

359 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" At the Hampton Institute, near 
Fort Monroe, Va., they have a peculiar 
but most interesting and effective man- 
ner of rendering ' America.' A trio, 
representing the white, negro, and In- 
dian races, sing together, 

" 4 My country, 't is of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 
Of thee I sing.' 

The Indian alone sings, 

" ' Land where my fathers died ' ; 

the white man, 

" ' Land of the pilgrims' pride,' 

and the negro, 

" c From every mountain side 
Let freedom ring.' 

The Indians, in chorus, then sing the 
second stanza, beginning, 

" ' My native country, thee ' ; 

360 



MY COUNTRY, T IS OF THEE 

the negroes the third, 

" ' Let music swell the breeze,* 

and then all join in the last — 

* ' Our fathers' God, to Thee, 
Author of liberty, 

To Thee we sing: 
Long may our land be bright 
With freedom's holy light: 
Protect us by Thy might, 
Great God, our King.' " 

Edward Marshall, the talented young 
newspaper correspondent, was among 
the Americans seriously wounded dur- 
ing our war with Spain. While in a 
New York hospital, receiving treat- 
ment for his wounds, he dictated for 
one of our leading magazines the fol- 
lowing pen-picture of the field at 
Guasimas : 

" There is one incident which shines 
out in my memory above all others as 
I lie in a New York hospital writing. 
It was just after the battle near Santi- 

361 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ago, on the 24th of June. It was in the 
field hospital^ and a continual chorus of 
moans rose through the tree branches 
overhead. Amputation and death 
stared its members in their gloomy 
faces. Suddenly a voice started softly : 

" ' My country, 't is of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 
Of thee I sing/ 

Others then took up the lines : 

" c Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the pilgrims' pride — ' 

" The quivering chorus, punctuated 
by groans and made spasmodic by pain, 
trembled up from that little group of 
wounded Americans in the midst of the 
Cuban solitude, — the pluckiest, most 
heartfelt song that human beings ever 
sang. 

" But there was one voice that did 
not quite keep up with the others. It 
was so weak that it hardly could be 

362 



MY COUNTRY, T IS OF THEE 

heard until all the rest had finished with 
the line : 

" * Let freedom ring. 5 

Then halting, struggling, faint, it 
repeated, slowly: 

" 4 Land-of-the-pilgrims'-pride, 
Let freedom — ' 

The last word was a woful cry. 
One more son had died as died the 
fathers." 

At the meeting of the General As- 
sembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
Des Moines, Iowa, in May, 1906, the 
Rev. Henry van Dyke, D.D., made a 
strong plea in behalf of the churches 
which had been destroyed a short time 
before by the disastrous California 
earthquake. During this address he 
recited two additional stanzas for 
" America," which have excited deep 
and far-reaching interest. Dr. van 
Dyke has kindly furnished the fol- 

363 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

lowing information relative to their 
composition : 

" They were suggested to me in con- 
nection with the wonderful expression 
of sympathy, from all parts of the 
United States, with the sufferings 
caused by the San Francisco earth- 
quake. I remembered my journeys in 
California, and with that remembrance 
came up to me the vision of the many 
sublime and beautiful scenes which I 
had looked upon in the course of my 
wanderings through this great land. 
I felt sure that the patriotic feeling of 
every true American must have within 
itself the recollection of such visions as 
these; and that love of the land itself 
— so vast, so varied, so rich, so beauti- 
ful — must be an essential element in 
the love of country. 

"Who that has ever lived in New 
England can fail to remember and feel 
the charm of that landscape, with its 
gentle wildness, its cool, friendly wood- 

v 364 



MY COUNTRY, 't IS OF THEE 

lands, its bright little rivers, its white 
churches crowning the hilltops? 

" But Dr. Smith's poem needs other 
stanzas to express the inexhaustible 
riches of the sublime and beautiful, the 
broad and varied natural enchantments 
of all America. Let us sing the famil- 
iar and w T ell-loved verses which come 
from the East; but let us sing also 
of the North and the West and the 
South, the Great Lakes, the wide for- 
ests, the vast prairies and the blooming 
savannahs." 

The lines have already been widely 
printed and almost as widely mis- 
printed. The following version was 
furnished by Dr. van Dyke himself: 

" I love thine inland seas, 
Thy groves of giant trees, 

Thy rolling plains; 
Thy rivers' mighty sweep, 
Thy mystic canyons deep, 
Thy mountains wild and steep, 

All thy domains: 

365 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" Thy silver Eastern strands, 
Thy Golden Gate that stands 

Fronting the West ; 
Thy flowery Southland fair, 
Thy sweet and crystal air, — 
O Land beyond compare, 

Thee I love best!" 



366 



XVII 

THE GLORY SONG 



That Will Be Glory. 



Cbas. H. Qabrtol. 




1. When alt my la-borsand tri-als are' o'er, And I am safe on that 

2. When, by the gift of His in - fin - ite grace, I am ac-cord-ed in 

3. Friends will be; there I have loved long a - go; Joy like a riv-er a- 

-J- 




beau - ti - fnl shore, Jn3t to be near the dear Lord I a - dore, 
heav -en a place, Just to be there and to look on His face, 
round me will flow; Yet, just a smile from my Sav-ior, I know, 




Will thro' the a-ges be glo-ry forme. that will be 

>. — ., O tlutwill 




glo-ry for me, Glo-ry for me, glo-ry for me; When by His grace 
be glo-ry for me, Glo-ry for me, glo-ry for me; 




tr — * 

I shall look on His face, That will be glo - ry, be glo-ry for me. 








THE GLORY SONG 

HE Rev. George T. B. 
Davis thus refers, in 1905, 
to the great Torrey- 
Alexander Mission: 
" Such a revival jour- 
ney, which has completely circled the 
earth, is entirely unprecedented in the 
history of the Christian Church. Other 
evangelists — such as Wesley, White- 
field, Finney, Moody and Sankey — 
have been mightily used of God on the 
two continents of America and Europe, 
but never has a great revivalist gone 
completely around the world preaching 
the same gospel to the yellow races of 
Japan and China, the mixed popula- 
tions of Australia, and the dark-skinned 
natives of India. ... A significant 
feature of this world-wide awakening 
has been the prominent place occupied 
in it by gospel songs. Everywhere the 

371 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

people have caught up these revival 
hymns with boundless enthusiasm, and 
God has wonderfully used them in 
the conversion of thousands of the 
unsaved/' 

Among these great revival melodies 
not one has so thrilled the hearts of 
men and been so blessed of God in the 
salvation of immortal souls as the 
famous " Glory Song," which, though 
written so recently as 1900, is already 
known the world over, and has at- 
tained unprecedented popularity and 
usefulness. 

The gifted author of this stirring 
hymn, Mr. Charles H. Gabriel, was 
born in the late fifties of the last cen- 
tury, in Iowa, and spent his earlier 
years on a farm in that State. At the 
age of seventeen he left his home and 
started out into the world, alone and 
unaided, to attempt the realisation of 
his boyhood's dreams. In this he has 
been eminently successful, in spite of 

372 




f VvE GOT A SOXG THAT IS GOING TO LIVE \" Page 372. 



THE GLORY SONG 

many difficulties. He is, in the fullest 
sense of the word, " a self-made man," 
and deserves full praise for all that his 
indomitable perseverance and splendid 
energy have enabled him to accomplish. 
Personally, he is genial and sympa- 
thetic; he is a lover of little children 
and a helper of men in their times of 
need. His melodies are universally 
popular, and have received the highest 
commendation. 

During the early summer of 1900, 
while bicycle riding with a Chicago 
publisher, for whom he was at the time 
preparing manuscript, he said to his 
friend : " I Ve got a song that is going 
to live!" He then gave the title of, 
and made brief quotations from, " O 
that will be glory." 

In view of the fact that this famous 
composition has been restricted to spe- 
cial publications, its phenomenal popu- 
larity is the more remarkable. It will 
doubtless be of interest to state that 

373 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

its author received only ten dollars for 
the copyright and sole use of it; and 
this admirably illustrates the fact that 
gospel songs are not always written 
merely for gain. 

Charles M. Alexander, the magnetic 
gospel singer, has made the " Glory 
Song " famous wherever the English 
language is spoken. He was born on 
a farm in Tennessee thirty-eight years 
ago. His parents were earnest Chris- 
tians, and both were excellent singers. 
On Sunday afternoons people would 
drive from far and near over the hills 
and gather on the pleasant verandah to 
enjoy the singing of sacred hymns, led 
by the father. The boy early devel- 
oped ability of a musical nature, and 
his parents did all that they could to 
encourage him. His own story of how 
he received the special inspiration to 
make the most of his life is very 
interesting. 

" I read in some magazine," he says, 

374 




Photo by Gutekunst, Philadelphia* 



(Mm^M MmnA 



jt&wmuhi 4-/6: 



THE GLORY SONG 

" about Gilmore, the famous band 
leader, in which it was told how, from a 
poor Irish boy coming over to America, 
he had gradually perfected himself in 
music until he had brought together 
one of the largest bands in America; 
and how, eventually, he had organised 
a great choir of singers in New Orleans. 
I thought that if that little lone Irish 
boy could do that, there might be some 
chance for me. I never quite got that 
magazine article out of my mind. I 
went to studying band instruments 
from a scientific standpoint, — what 
combinations of strings, brass or reed 
instruments, would produce certain 
effects. People said I was wasting my 
time, but I kept right on. I was simply 
studying to perfect myself in accord- 
ance with my dreams of the future; 
and I did not stop with singing or play- 
ing. I would go and listen to orators 
to see how they controlled their listen- 
ers, because I knew that if I was going 

375 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

to handle big crowds successfully I 'd 
have to learn how to get and keep their 
attention. At that time I was between 
fifteen and sixteen years of age. I read 
a good deal of religious literature, and 
also the biographies of many great men 
both of England and America, and I 
found that reading them gave me an 
insight into the work for which I was 
preparing." 

He finally became an instructor of 
music in Maryville College, Tennessee, 
where he remained until his twenty- 
fourth year, when he entered the Moody 
Bible Institute, Chicago, and took a 
full course in gospel hymnology and in 
Bible study in order to prepare himself 
thoroughly for what he had determined 
should be the great ambition and aim 
of his lif e, — the reaching of the un- 
saved through the singing of the gos- 
pel. For eight years after graduation 
he visited a number of towns in the 
middle West with the Rev. M. B, Wil- 

376 



THE GLORY SONG 

liams, assisting him in successful evan- 
gelistic services. 

In the spring of 1902 he went to 
Australia at the urgent invitation of 
Dr. R. A. Torrey, and united with him 
in the great revival services which have 
since that time been extended by these 
two consecrated Christian workers al- 
most over the world. 

Mr. Alexander is a matchless leader, 
and has a charming, winsome person- 
ality. He is a prime favourite wher- 
ever he goes; and all who know him 
love him for his sterling worth and 
genuine manhood. 

We will let him tell, in his own words, 
how the " Glory Song " became world- 
famous : 

" The ' Glory Song/ words and 
music, was written in Chicago, by 
Charles H. Gabriel, who is probably 
the most popular gospel song-writer in 
America to-day. I remember quite 
well the first time I saw it in looking 

377 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

over a new song-book. I just glanced 
at it, and then said to myself, ' That 
man has wasted a page, for I do not 
believe that song will be sung much.' 

" Some months later I stepped into 
a large Sunday-school convention and 
heard an audience singing it. It took 
such a hold, of me that I could think of 
nothing else for days thereafter. I got 
my friends to sing it. I dreamed about 
it, and woke to the rhythm of it. Then 
I began to teach it to large audiences, 
and soon whole towns were ringing with 
the melody. 

" I remember one little town in Kan- 
sas, called Wellington, where the Uni- 
versity students turned out in a body, 
young men and women, and marched 
through the streets, four abreast, sing- 
ing with fervour: 

" ' Oh, that will be glory for me, 
Glory for me, glory for me; 
When by His grace I shall look on His face, 
That will be glory for me.' 
378 



THE GLORY SONG 

" Later, I was in a neighbouring 
town conducting a mission, and the 
largest revival excursion I ever heard 
of came to visit us. They had chartered 
a special train of fourteen cars and 
two engines, and brought over eight 
hundred people, — many of them 
prominent merchants, bankers, society 
leaders, and people of all grades and 
classes. When they alighted from the 
train, they formed in long lines, four 
deep, and inarched through the streets, 
each one wearing a ribbon on which 
was printed in large letters, ' Glory for 
me/ They set the entire town ringing 
with the inspiring song. 

" This was a little while before I 
went to Melbourne. When I started 
for Australia, I made up my mind 
that the ' Glory Song' should be the 
popular song of the campaign. I 
felt that it would stand any pressure 
that might be brought to bear upon 
it. I had the music plate in my box 

379 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

and determined to make good use 
of it. 

"Dr. Torrey had requested me to 
go ahead of him, and when I reached 
Australia, a week before he did, I 
didn't know a single person there. I 
was at once elected Musical Superin- 
tendent of the fifty different centres 
of the Melbourne Simultaneous Mis- 
sion. I had several thousand copies of 
the ' Glory Song ' printed so as to be 
ready for the great welcome meeting 
in Melbourne Town Hall. 

" I remember with what anxiety I 
approached that meeting. I felt that 
the success of the musical part of the 
mission depended upon some one song 
catching the brains and hearts of the 
people. After we had sung a few 
songs, I announced that the next would 
be the ' Glory Song,' which was to be 
the revival song. They picked it up 
with the regular Australian enthusiasm 
and it was an instant success. 

380 



THE GLORY SONG 

" The next day all over the city in- 
quiries were made for the 'Glory Song/ 
It was printed in all kinds of papers 
and magazines, hummed in street-cars, 
in shops, and in factories, and ground 
out from hand organs. Within a month 
it was being sung all over Australia; 
and a popular writer declared that it 
had ' set Australia on fire.' 

" When we were conducting our cam- 
paign in the great Town Hall, Sydney, 
we had leaflets with the ' Glory Song ' 
printed on them, and an invitation to 
the meetings printed at the bottom. 
We distributed these by thousands, 
handing them to each person as he 
came in. We would ask them, if they 
already had a copy of the song in their 
song books, to mail the leaflets to 
friends in the country who never got 
new songs, or put them in parcels as 
they sent them away. 

" One day I had asked them to do 
this. A lady, when she returned home 

381 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

from the service, had occasion to send 
a pair of shoes to be mended. She 
happened to think about the ' Glory- 
Song ' and put the leaflet into the 
bundle. The next day she went down 
to the shoemaker's, and found the old 
fellow pegging away with tears rolling 
down his cheeks. She asked, ' What 
is the matter? ' He replied, ' Do you 
remember that " Glory Song " you put 
into the bundle? Last night I got my 
little family around the organ and we 
sang it. I noticed the invitation to 
come to the Town Hall and hear Torrey 
and Alexander, so I went up last night. 
I heard Dr. Torrey preach, and I gave 
my heart to God. I have sent my wife 
and children up this afternoon to the 
meeting, and I am just praying that 
God will save them/ 

"And He did. The next night the 
whole family came forward and pub- 
licly confessed their acceptance of 
Jesus Christ. 

383 



THE GLORY SONG 

' Wherever we went in Australia, 
Tasmania, and New Zealand, they 
would immediately send a request for 
the ' Glory Song. 5 We would often 
stop at stations for a few minutes, when 
we were on long railway journeys, and 
people would get to know when we 
would be passing through their town. 
They would often telegraph us that if 
we would get out for the few minutes 
our train stopped at the station they 
would have a lorry, with a piano in it, 
and a crowd to listen to me sing a 
verse and to Dr. Torrey while he 
spoke for two or three minutes. I re- 
member quite well one place where we 
stopped for ten minutes they had a 
brass band playing the c Glory Song ' 
as we steamed in, and fifteen hundred 
people had gathered there for that brief 
service. One man came over a hundred 
miles to be present at a five minutes' 
meeting at a station. 

"When we reached Great Britain, 

383 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

everywhere we went throughout the 
Kingdom the ' Glory Song ' was the 
prime favourite. In Birmingham 
the streets fairly rang with it. A musi- 
cal expert in London, who watches the 
songs of the nation, told me that he 
had never known any song, sacred or 
secular, to captivate Great Britain and 
the Colonies as quickly and completely 
as did the t Glory Song.' I have had 
letters from Germany, France, Den- 
mark, China, New Guinea, India, Zulu- 
land, and other countries, saying that 
the song had been translated into their 
native languages and was a prime fa- 
vourite with the people. 

" It is a song that takes with society 
people and musical people as well as 
with the man on the street. The name 
of the song at once interests everybody. 
Millions of people have been reached 
through its publication in the daily 
papers. I was in a great many parts 
of London, and asked all classes and 

384 



THE GLORY SONG 

all grades of people if they had ever 
heard this song, and I did not receive 
a single negative answer. 

"A friend of mine made a bicycle 
tour through western England, and he 
said that people were whistling or sing- 
ing the melody on the streets of almost 
every village and city through which 
he passed. 

" In the Welsh revival the ' Glory 
Song ' was in constant use, and was 
one of the first songs to be used. It 
was called for at almost every service 
we held in the Royal Albert Hall, 
London. One afternoon I did not have 
it, and at the close of the meeting I 
had pitiful and indignant appeals for 
it. One clergyman said that he had 
come two hundred miles and ought to 
return that afternoon, but that he would 
remain for the night meeting if we 
would sing this song. 

" Before each service requests would 
be handed up to me from people from 

96 385 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

different parts of the country who said 
they had come long distances to hear 
this song. I have also found that the 
longer people sing it the better they 
like it; and the greater volume that 
can be secured in rendering it the bet- 
ter it is. 

" One afternoon a worker came to 
me in the Royal Albert Hall, London, 
and said that a Jew had been present 
at the service and had heard the audi- 
ence sing the ' Glory Song/ When 
they came to the words 

" * When by His grace I shall look on Hif 
face,* 

the thought came to him, € These thou- 
sands of people seem sincere; they 
may be right, and Jesus may be the 
Messiah. If that be true, I shall never 
look on His face unless I accept Him/ 
And that train of thought led to his 
taking Christ as his Saviour. , 

"An interesting incident in refer- 

386 



THE GLORY SONG 

ence to the song was contained in a 
letter I recently received from Eng- 
land. The writer said that the song 
was sung at the launching of H. M. S. 
' Dreadnaught,' the largest battleship 
in the world, one of whose guns is said 
to shoot twenty-seven miles. King 
Edward was present and had given 
orders that there be no band music, in 
view of the recent death of his father- 
in-law, the King of Denmark. His 
command was complied with, but no or- 
ders had been given prohibiting singing, 
hence the blue- jackets on the warship 
sang several hymns as the vessel was 
launched, and the first number on the 
program was the l Glory Song/ It 
was simply another proof of the popu- 
larity of the hymn." 

At one of the meetings Mr. Alex- 
ander made this statement: "Just as 
I came in the door I was handed the 
1 Glory Song ' in three Indian lan- 
guages. That makes at least fifteen 

887 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

languages into which the song has 
been translated. There was a gentle- 
man in the Bible Institute in Glasgow, 
Scotland, when we held our meetings 
there, who afterwards went out as 
a missionary to China. He wrote me 
a letter saying that as soon as he 
got to the mission station what was 
his surprise to hear the native Chris- 
tians start up the ' Glory Song.' So 
he translated it into Chinese and sent 
it to me." 

Mr. Alexander then asked the audi- 
ence to tell where they had heard the 
" Glory Song." A man rose and said, 
" I heard it in Florida, and was de- 
lighted with it." " I heard it in New 
York," said another. One had heard 
it in Glasgow, Scotland; another in 
Belfast, Ireland; a third in Melbourne; 
a fourth in Cardiff, Wales; and others 
in Albert Hall, London, Johannesburg, 
South Africa, Brighton, England, until 
it seemed that almost every well-known 

388" - 



THE GLORY SONG 

place on the globe was represented in 
the audience. 

" Three years ago," said a Danish 
pastor, " I was sick for a fortnight, and 
while lying on my bed I received from 
London a copy of a religious paper in 
which there was a report of the Torrey- 
Alexander revival and a reprint of the 
1 Glory Song,' w r ords and music. In 
that fortnight God came to my heart in 
a w r onderful way, and as I lay in my 
bed I translated the ' Glory Song ' into 
Danish. When I was strong enough 
I held revival meetings, and for four 
weeks we sang the ' Glory Song,' and 
I suppose God used it to save many 
people. This autumn we had four 
meetings, at which twenty-seven hun- 
dred people were present — more than 
half of them men — and we sang the 
1 Glory Song ' evening by evening until 
their hearts were glowing. When I re- 
turn to Denmark I am going from city 
to city and from town to town conduct- 

389 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

ing revival meetings and teaching the 
people to sing the ' Glory Song/ " 

To hear a great congregation, led by- 
Alexander, sing the " Glory Song " is 
one of the rich spiritual privileges of 
a lif etime. 



590 



XVIII 

SUNSET AND EVENING 
STAR 



gmnset anb ebening star, 

&nb one clear tall for me I 
&nb map tfjere be no moaning of tfje bar, 

Wfytu 3 put out to sea, 

Put sucf) a titie as mobing seems asleep, 

Coo full for sounb anb foam, 
©Hfjen tfjat tofticf) breto from out ttie bounbless 
beep 

£utns again fjome. 

Ctotltgfjt anb ebening bell, 

2tab after tfiat tfje bark t 
JUnb map tfjere be no sabnes* of faretoell 

'4Mi)tn 3 embark ; 

jFor tfjougfj from out our bourne of QKme anb 
$lace 

Wfyt floob map bear me far, 
3 Jjope to see mp $tlot face to face 

TOen 3f babe crost tfje bar. 




LORD TENNYSON, AUTHOR OF SUNSET AND EVENING 

STAR." 



SUNSET AND EVENING 
STAR 




OTHING that Tenny- 
son has ever written," 
declares Dr. Henry van 
Dyke, " is more beauti- 
ful in body and soul 
than ' Crossing the Bar.' It is perfect 
poetry — simple even to the verge of 
austerity, yet rich with all the sugges- 
tions of wide ocean and waning light and 
vesper bells; easy to understand and 
full of music, yet opening inward to a 
truth which has no words, and pointing 
onward to a vision which transcends all 
forms ; it is a delight and a consolation, 
a song for mortal ears, and a prelude 
to the larger music of immortality.' ' 

As a poem, this exquisite lyric has 
already won a foremost place in our 
language; and as a hymn it is steadily 
increasing in popularity. 

The present Lord Tennyson writes: 

395 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

" ' Crossing the Bar ' was written in 
my father's eighty-first year, on a day 
in October, when we came from Aid- 
worth to Farringford. Before reach- 
ing Farringf ord he had the ' Moaning 
of the Bar ' in his mind, and after din- 
ner he showed me the poem written out. 
I said, ' That is the crown of your life's 
work.' He answered, ' It came in a 
moment.' " 

Jowett, Master of Balliol, said to the 
beloved poet, when visiting him less 
than a month previous to his death, " I 
believe that your ' In Memoriam ' and 
1 Crossing the Bar ' will live forever in 
men's hearts." 

" The student of poetry," says Dr. 
Louis F. Benson, " was glad that the 
old tree should bear so perfect a flower, 
and the religious public was touched by 
the venerable poet's avowal of his per- 
sonal faith." 

Space forbids that we give even a 
brief review of the life-work of the 

396 



SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 

great poet who wrote these tender lines 
" in the white winter of his age," but 
since it is so intimately associated with 
his last days, and was sung for the first 
time, as an anthem, at his funeral, there 
is peculiar fitness in recalling just here 
some of the very interesting events 
connected with his death and burial. 

On the morning of Thursday, Octo- 
ber 6, 1892, at half -past one o'clock, 
Alfred Tennyson " passed to where 
beyond these voices there is peace/' 
One of his physicians, Sir Andrew 
Clark, said that it was the most glorious 
death he ever witnessed. There was 
no artificial light, the room being 
" flooded and bathed in the light of the 
full moon streaming through the oriel 
window." The midnight silence was 
unbroken save by the autumn wind as 
it gently played through the trees sur- 
rounding the house, a fitting requiem 
for him who had so often wandered 
beneath their sheltering branches. 

397 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

The tide of his life ebbed peacefully 
out into the great ocean of eternity, and 
so calmly did he respond to the beckon- 
ing hand of the death angel that those 
who stood about his bed scarcely knew 
when the end came. It was much like 
what he himself had written in " The 
Passing of Arthur " : 

" Then from the dawn it seem'd there came, 
but faint 
As from beyond the limit of the world, 
Like the last echo born of a great cry, 
Sounds, as if some fair city were one voice 
Around a king returning from his wars." 

During a wakeful interval on the 
afternoon preceding his death, he had 
asked for a copy of Shakespeare, and, 
with his own hands turned to his favour- 
ite lines in Cymbeline: 

" Hang there, like fruit, my soul, 
Till the tree die." 

These, he frequently declared, were 
among Shakespeare's tenderest words. 

398 



SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 

He fixed his eyes on the page, but did 
not speak. He may or may not have 
read the lines. He soon fell into slum- 
ber, and with his hand resting on the 
open book, the world-loved poet, weary 
with the burdens of many years, entered 
into his longed-for rest. There could 
not have been a gentler passing of a 
soul to its Creator. 

Emily Gillmore Alden has happily 
caught the spirit of the solemn hour in 
her fine poem, " A Meet of Kings," 
two stanzas of which are here given: 

" It was ideal dying, as the moonlight touched 

the face 
Of English King of Letters, with its weird 

and solemn grace; 
It silvered all the iron greys that spread 

the pillow white, 
And made that room the vestibule of 

heaven's celestial light. 

" It was ideal dying ; the shallop crossed the 
bar, 
No pennon at the mast-head, but 't was 
gemmed with evening star. 
399 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

Such Laureate needs no Union Jack to be 

for him unfurled — 
He was beloved of nations, and his Abbey 

is the world ! " 

With true poetic instinct, and with 
a pen inspired by love for the great 
poet, Dr. Henry van Dyke has en- 
riched our literature with these charm- 
ing verses : 

" From the misty shores of midnight, touched 
with splendours of the moon, 

To the singing tides of heaven, and the light 
more clear than noon, 

Passed a soul that grew to music till it was 
with God in tune. 

" Brother of the greatest poets, true to 

nature, true to art; 
Lover of Immortal Love, uplifter of the 

human heart, 
Who shall cheer us with high music, who 

shall sing, if thou depart? 

" Silence here, — for love is silent, gazing 

on the lessening sail; 
Silence here, — for grief is voiceless when 

the mighty poets fail; 
Silence here, — but far beyond us, many 

voices crying, Hail ! " 

400 



SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 

Hallam Tennyson, in his fine Memoir 
of his father, thus describes love's last 
tender ministries : 

" For the next hours the full moon 
flooded the room and the great land- 
scape outside with light; and we 
watched in solemn stillness. His pa- 
tience and quiet strength had power 
upon those who were nearest and dear- 
est to him; we felt thankful for the 
love and the utter peace of it all. . . . 
As he was passing away, I spoke over 
him his own prayer, ' God accept him! 
Christ receive him!' because I knew 
that he would have wished it. . . . He 
looked very grand and peaceful with 
the deep furrows of thought almost 
smoothed away, and the old clergyman 
of Lurgashall stood by the bed with 
his hands raised, and said, ' Lord Ten- 
nyson, God has taken you, who made 
you a prince of men! Farewell! ' We 
placed Cymbeline with him, and a laurel 
wreath from Virgil's tomb, and wreaths 

401 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

of roses, the flower he loved above all 
flowers, and some of his Alexandrian 
laurel — the poet's laurel. On the 
evening of the 11th the coffin was set 
upon our wagonette, and made beau- 
tiful with stag's-horn moss and the 
scarlet lobelia cardinalis; and draped 
with the pall, woven by working men 
and women of the North, and em- 
broidered by the cottagers of Keswick; 
and then we covered him with the 
wreaths and crosses of flowers sent 
from all parts of Great Britain. The 
coachman, who had been for more than 
thirty years my father's faithful ser- 
vant, led the horse. 

" Ourselves, the villagers, and the 
school children followed over the moor 
through our lane towards a glorious 
sunset, and later through Haslemere 
under brilliant starlight." 

The next day, Wednesday, the 12th, 
he was buried in Westminster Abbey, 
his coffin being covered, at the request 

402 



SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 

of the Prince of Wales, with the Union 
Jack. Vast multitudes thronged the 
storied building. The nave was lined 
by members of the famous Light Bri- 
gade, successors of the noble men whose 
distinguished bravery Tennyson im- 
mortalised in one of his most spirited 
poems — " The Charge of the Light 
Brigade." 

" Sunset and Evening Star," set to 
music by Dr. Bridge, was sung. It is 
pleasant to have the following graphic 
picture of the scene at the grave pre- 
served to us by the pen of the daugh- 
ter of the Dean: "As the procession 
slowly passed up the nave and paused 
beneath the lantern, where the coffin 
was placed during the first part of the 
burial service, the sun lit up the dark 
scene, and touched the red-and-blue 
Union Jack upon the coffin with bril- 
liant light, filtered through the painted 
panes of Chaucer's window on the 
cleared purple space by the open grave, 

403 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

and lighting up the beautiful bust of 
Dryden, the massive head of Long- 
fellow, the gray tomb of Chaucer, and 
the innumerable wreaths heaped upon 
it. In the intense and solemn silence 
which followed the reading of the les- 
son were heard the voices of the choir 
singing in subdued and tender tones 
Tennyson's ' Crossing the Bar ' — those 
beautiful words in which the poet, as 
it were, foretold his calm and peaceful 
deathbed,. In the second line, the clear, 
thrilling notes of a boy's voice sounded 
like a silver trumpet call amongst the 
arches, and it was only at intervals that 
one distinguished Dr. Bridge's beau- 
tiful organ accompaniment, which 
swelled gradually from a subdued mur- 
mur, as of the moaning tide, into a 
triumphant burst from the voices, so 
blended together were words and 
music.'' 

" Tennyson retained," writes Dr. 
Sutherland, "his power of vision and 

404 



SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 

expression to the last. He never wrote 
anything more exquisite or enduring 
than ' Sunset and Evening Star.' He 
had all that makes life sweet and val- 
uable, — ' love, obedience, troops of 
friends/ — yet when death came there 
was ' no moaning of the bar ' as he 
crossed into the haven of eternal peace, 
for his intellect was unclouded and his 
faith firm. His life was a long and 
golden day with a magnificent sunset." 

The President of Lafayette College, 
Dr. Ethelbert D. Warfield, writes: 
" His after verse lost the early force, 
but rallied in one last lyric to give 
expression to the brave and hopeful 
soul which made the man a poet; and 
to reveal, like a ray of the setting sun, 
the serene beauty of his evening sky. 
The world was thrilled and gladdened 
by that little song, and now that he has 
c crossed the bar/ we do not need to 
ask if he sleeps well beyond the sunset." 

An interesting incident in connection 

405 



FAMOUS HYMNS OF THE WORLD 

with the hymn is given by Mr. Harry 
Pringle Ford: " Some years ago, on 
a beautiful afternoon in the early 
autumn, I went for the first time along 
the famous Cliff Walk of Newport, 
Rhode Island. To a lover of art and 
nature the scene was one of rare beauty. 
On my right were the palatial homes 
of wealthy men ; while at some distance 
below, and stretching far away to the 
left, was the great pulsing Atlantic, 
making its ceaseless plaint to the lofty 
cliffs. As I neared the end of the walk 
the ocean was beginning to reflect the 
crimson of the setting sun. Soon the 
great orb sank in splendour beneath 
the waters, leaving on the surface a 
pathway of burnished gold and a sky 
aglow with colour. Near-by yachts, be- 
lated by the calm, caught the freshen- 
ing evening breeze and sped for the 
harbour, while far-away ships gave an 
added touch to the picturesqueness of 
the well-nigh perfect scenes As I 

406 



SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 

looked out over the limpid waters, and 
then up to the magnificent afterglow in 
the western sky, my eye caught, in the 
cloudless atmosphere, the gleam of a 
star, resplendent in its beauty. In- 
stantly there flashed upon my mind the 
words : 

" 4 Sunset and evening star, 
And one clear call for me/ 

" I was younger then; and to me the 
' one clear call ' was not to face death 
but life ; to take my Pilot on board for 
time as well as for eternity; to feel the 
need of Him as much on the open main 
as when making for the harbour. The 
1 one clear call ' should be a trumpet 
sound to present duty, and a splendid 
stimulus to all to ' follow the Gleam/ 
as did Merlin. I have always been 
grateful for the sunset and evening 
star at Newport, and to Tennyson for 
helping me, by his tender lines, to make 
the experience an incentive to nobler 
endeavour" 

40T 



FAMOUS HYMNS OT THE WORLD 

" Sunset and Evening Star " was a 
favourite of Dr. George Yardley Tay- 
lor, the brilliant young physician who 
gave up his life so heroically at Paou- 
tingfu, China, in the massacre of June, 
1900. During the days preceding the 
tragedy the little circle of men, women, 
and children, who were so soon to seal 
their faith with their blood, frequently 
gathered about the organ in the Com- 
pound and sang the songs of the home- 
land, now doubly dear and consoling to 
them because of their helplessness and 
need; and with pathetic prescience 
Tennyson's beautiful sunset hymn was 
always included. It would be difficult 
to imagine a greater contrast than that 
which existed between the peaceful sur- 
roundings of the gifted author when 
he " crossed the bar " in the early 
autumn morning, and the wild tumult 
through which these brave young mis- 
sionaries went to their martyrdom; but 
we doubt not that the same gentle Pilot 

408 



SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 

who stood in the quiet moonlit chamber, 
while 

" The casement slowly grew a glimmering 
square," 

was also " keeping watch above His 
own" at the awful carnage; and that 
after the " sunset and evening bells," 
He tenderly guided them all — poet 
and martyrs — to their desired haven, 
to be with Him forever in " a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." 



409 



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